Mira Jacob

This is one of those books that was all the rage a few years back, the kind that makes me Leary with all the hubbub. But I bought a copy, because the author is a local and sets the book partially here in NM, and let it marinate on the shelves a while. The book held up, and was a surprisingly unique and evocative read. Covering the young life of the narrator, Amina, during a visit to India when a family crisis erupts, the narrative then picks up with how those events play out across the show more family over the years. Amina has to process her brother's death and her father's fading health. In the additional materials after the story, Jacob admits the book is partially auto-biographical - though she didn't intend to write a memoir, the father character was based largely on her own father. It lends the book a certain credibility.

Recommended.

4 1/2 bones!!!!! show less

In Mira Jacob’s impressive debut novel, Amina Eapen is living is Seattle in 1998 when she gets a call from her mother saying her father, a brain surgeon, has been conducting full conversations with deceased family members. Amina is concerned and decides to see for herself what is happening. At first everything seems fine but, as the story unfolds, she realizes her father is in distress. A substantial subplot concerns Amina’s change in career from photojournalist to wedding photographer, show more due to the notoriety of a photo she had taken. Another major segment revolves around Amina’s brother, Akhil, and his impact on the family’s struggles. The Eapen family experiences more than its fair share of suffering and heartbreak. The story is told in multiple timelines from the 1970’s in Salem, India, to the 1980’s in New Mexico to the 1998 present, portraying the Eapens’ individual secrets and family tragedies.

The author appears to be a keen observer of human nature. The characters are complex, nuanced, and memorable. Jacob uses elegant prose and well-crafted dialogue that expresses a wide range of emotions. The East Indian-American culture is vividly evoked. This dysfunctional family felt very real to me. Themes include the devastation of profound loss, the importance of coming to terms with the past, and the dangers of sleepwalking through life. Although the novel is filled with pain, loss, and grief, it also contains a thread of hope. Recommended to those who appreciate multi-generational family dramas (unless currently dealing with family illness or loss). show less

This graphic novel should be a must read for every white person out in the world. I listened to an episode of So Many Damn Books with Mira Jacob (episode 118) and she was funny, intelligent, and 100% engaging. She talked about how she cannot have conversations with her in-laws about politics because they voted and back Trump.

Mira is Indian. Her husband is white. Their cute kiddo is mixed race. You can see how having your in-laws supporting Trump can cause problems? Ah, but really you only show more think you understand.

Walk through this novel and you actually can see how hurtful this is. You can see how it feels to be pregnant and, while at an all white party, you are assumed to be the help instead of the daughter-in-law. Because....people with dark skin are always the help? No, they actually are not.

Mira shows us all the talks she has with her son, who is full of questions. She tries to navigate him through the 2016 election, what it means to be mixed race, why his dad doesn't hate him (dad is white = white people hate brown people), and more. It's a bit of a painful read if you let it be. And maybe you should let it be painful and really step into their shoes a bit. show less

"Anovelist explores the perils and joys of parenting, marriage, and love in this showstopping memoir about race in America.

When her 6-year-old, half-Jewish, half-Indian son, Z, started asking complicated questions about Michael Jackson's skin color, Jacob (The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing, 2014) faced the challenge of being honest about racism in America without giving him answers that might be too much to handle at such a tender age. The result is this series of illustrated conversations show more between Z and the author, by turns funny, philosophical, cautious, and heartbreaking. "Every question Z asked,” writes Jacob, “made me realize the growing gap between the America I'd been raised to believe in and the one rising fast all around us.” These reflections compelled the author to excavate her formative years in New Mexico and, later, in New York as a young writer struggling through her 20s. Jacob grew up navigating a constant stream of expectations from her parents, who emigrated from India to the American Southwest in the middle of the civil rights movement. Particularly moving are the chapters in which Jacob explores how even those close to her retain closed-minded and culturally defined prejudices. With grace and honesty, the author chronicles how she navigated the racist assumptions of an employer and dealt with Indian relatives who viewed her as "a darkie" with no marriage prospects as well as the devastating decision of her Jewish in-laws to vote for Donald Trump. "I feel awful," Jacob explained to her husband. "I feel like they've abandoned me." The memoir works well visually, with striking pen-and-ink drawings of Jacob and her family that are collaged onto vibrant found photographs and illustrated backgrounds. Occasionally the author reuses a drawing to spectacular effect, as when the faces of a white boyfriend and colleague from her past show up in a collage about the responses of white Americans to Trump’s candidacy. Told with immense bravery and candor, this book will make readers hunger for more of Jacob's wisdom and light.

The visual echoes between past and present make this extraordinary memoir about difficult conversations all the more powerful." www.kirkusreviews.com, A Kirkus Starred Review show less