Who is Jhumpa Lahiri?
Born to Bengali immigrants in London, Jhumpa Lahiri moved to Rhode Island with her family at the age of 3. The first-generation immigrant experience, particularly for Indian Americans, is a focus of much of her work. Her characters frequently face cultural clashes between their homelands and their new home countries. She also highlights the difficult position of first-generation Americans as they navigate their parents’ expectations while trying to live authentically. Lahiri’s prose is quiet and spare, yet remarkably powerful, and her characters’ struggles with legacy and societal expectations are unforgettable. After moving to Italy in 2011, Lahiri learned to speak and write in Italian, growing fascinated with the language and the process of translation. Starting with translating works by other authors from Italian to English, Lahiri then tried something entirely new. She began writing in Italian, exploring how the new language impacted her work, and then translating it into English. In this way, she published two nonfiction essay collections and a novel in Italian. Her upcoming novel Whereabouts was first published in Italian in 2018. Jhumpa Lahiri’s work has grown and morphed since her debut short story collection was published in 1999. Her future books are sure to take readers on an unexpected journey. But for now, let’s talk about where to start with the Jhumpa Lahiri books currently available.
Start With Short Stories
Next, A Novel
Meet the Author
We hope this guide to the best Jhumpa Lahiri books helped you decide where to start with the beloved author’s works! Be sure to check out Reading Pathways to your favorite authors. You might also enjoy:
Jhumpa Lahiri’s THE NAMESAKE and Finding Culture in Literature Great Books about the Immigrant Experience Speak or Swim: IN OTHER WORDS and the Trials of Learning a Language
