They’re all modern, accepting people but there are inevitable cultural clashes and misunderstandings, and I found it quite thought-provoking. Politics are touched on lightly, and there are huge feasts as each family offers increased hospitality to the others. We learn a little about Ziba and her husband Sami’s past through his mother Maryam, who is widowed, and around sixty when the book starts, but young at heart. Bitsy’s parents are quiet, likeable people although it’s clear that her mother is quite ill, unlikely to live much longer. Bitsy has two brothers, who are married with children they appear at most family parties, but the only one I recall is a dorky teenage boy, the only one amongst several girls. There are a lot of people in the story, most of whose names I couldn’t remember from one chapter to another, but it didn’t much matter. Susan’s adoptive mother Ziba is elegant but a little insecure, and although she admires Jin-ho’s new mother Bitsy, she often feels a bit put down by her comments, even though they are kindly meant. They think it important that she and Susan become friends, so they start inviting the Iranian family to their parties - and a friendship is struck. The American family - with parents in their early forties - are determined to respect Jin-ho’s culture, and are blatantly accepting, with a wholesome, ‘earth mother’ approach to child-rearing. Their baby, whom they rename Susan, is smaller than Jin-ho, and doesn’t look as healthy. It’s only after their daughter, Jin-ho, arrives that the other family is spotted: an Iranian couple, and a grandmother.

They’re loud, and excited, and there are lots of photos and also a video being taken.

The most obvious family is an all-American one, with the whole extended family adorned with badges labelling them ‘mom’ or ‘grandma’ (etc), and all kinds of gifts. Two families are waiting for the arrival of Korean babies, whom they’re going to adopt. It’s a book about cultures and contrasts, but it opens at an airport.

I finally picked it up to read a few days ago, and I found myself liking it almost immediately. When I spotted ‘Digging to America’ on a church book stall, and knew I hadn’t read it, it was an easy decision to buy it, but it sat on my ‘to-read’ shelf for rather a long time. In the right mood I enjoy her books very much, but don’t tend to re-read them. She’s an American novelist, who writes character-based, often quirky books which rely more on observation and conversation than any real plot. It’s a long time since I’ve read anything by Anne Tyler.

Anne tyler digging to america