Digging to America

Anne Tyler

It is the Baltimore Airport, August 15, 1997. Bitsy and Brad Donaldson are at the airport with their extended family. When the woman with the Korean baby girl steps out of the jetway Brad and Bitsy meet their new daughter. The whole family celebrates. When another woman brings out another Korean baby girl, a trio of people who had been overlooked stepped forward. Sami and Ziba Yazdan come forward, along with Sami's mother Maryam Yazdan, and meet their new daughter as well.

Bitsy immediately starts inviting the Yazdans to their different traditional American gatherings. The make sure Maryam knows she is included in the invitation. Soon the Yazdans are inviting the Donaldsons to their Iranian American gatherings. Maryam is not always sure if she should join or not, but does for the family's sake.

Over the next seven years the two families celebrate Arrival Day, the day Jin Ho Donaldson and Susan Yazdan came to America and joined their new parents. They also learn more about each others' cultures. When Bitsy's father, Dave Dickenson, is attracted to Maryam, things get complicated.

Once again Anne Tyler brings the reader in and out of seven years of American families. Although the story is told from many of the characters' perspectives, Maryam is the central character in Digging To America. It follows her from her focused life to learning and trying to understand the ways of "Americans!" (said with a bit of an Iranian accent).

I found Maryam's history fascinating. I have a fixed notion of Iranian culture in its native country. But Maryam comes from one of the moments in the country's history when the women had more freedom. She did not flee a government, but rather came to the United States to marry.

Digging to America gives an interesting and entertaining story of American cultures meeting and learning about each other. Although different issues are lightly touched upon - cancer, 9/11, culture shock, death - this is an enjoyable novel that keeps its upbeat tone.