The Newlyweds | Nell Freudenberger
A powerful, funny, richly observed tour de force by one of Americas most acclaimed young writers: a story of love and marriage, secrets and betrayals, that takes us from the backyards of America to the back alleys and villages of Bangladesh. In The Newlyweds, we follow the story of Amina Mazid, who at age twenty-four moves from Bangladesh to Rochester, New York, for love. A hundred years ago, Amina would have been called a mail-order bride. But this is an arranged marriage for the twenty-first century: Amina is wooed byand woosGeorge Stillman online. For Amina, George offers a chance for a new life and a different kind of happiness than she might find back home. For George, Amina is a woman who doesnt play games. But each of them is hiding something: someone from the past they thought they could leave behind. It is only when they put an ocean between themand Amina returns to Bangladeshthat she and George find out if their secrets will tear them apart, or if they can build a future together. The Newlyweds is a surprising, suspenseful story about the exhilarationsand real-life complicationsof getting, and staying, married. It stretches across continents, generations, and plains of emotion. What has always set Nell Freudenberger apart is the sly, gimlet eye she turns on collisions of all kindssexual, cultural, familial. With The Newlyweds, she has found her perfect subject for that vision, and characters to match. She reveals Aminas heart and mind, capturing both her new American reality and the home she cannot forget, with seamless authenticity, empathy, and grace. At once revelatory and affecting, The Newlyweds is a stunning achievement.
The Newlyweds | 
