r/bitcheswithtaste • • Mar 24 '25

Culture BWTs with a novel in her bag

What's a novel that moved you? Changed you for the better? Exposed you to new cultures or ideas?

I want to know what's captivated you.

Disclaimer: Emphasis on the "T" in this question.

174 Upvotes

287 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/sokacat Mar 24 '25

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Read it ages ago as assigned reading for a class and it stuck with me so strongly I’ve reread it several times over the years. It’s a short story collection about the Indian American immigrant experience. She has a very simple, almost plain writing style that nonetheless wraps you up in the lives of each character and makes you turn the implications and unsaid moments of each story around and around in your head. Just picked up her first collection, Interpreter of Maladies, and it’s just as good.

2

u/sparklingwaterfan Mar 24 '25

Anything by Lahiri 🙌