I'm not sure what I was expecting when I signed up to read A Good American for BlogHer. I'm usually pretty picky (read, snobby) about the novels I read. I like them a little literary, character driven and with a healthy shake of poetic language. I assumed that this would not be that, but figured I'd give it a try anyway.
Except, it was.
A Good American tells the story of a German immigrant family in Missouri over the span of the twentieth century. It begins with an unlikely love story between the narrator's grandparents who were forced to flee a disapproving family, and procedes through the next two generations of the family. It has moments at which it is tragic and shocking, but these are for the most part so integrated into the larger story of the family and the town that they don't lend a dark or disturbing tone to the book as a while.
Often, when the scope of a novel is so large and covers such a long span of time, the individual characters tend to get lost. That doesn't seem to be the case with A Good American. The grandparents, Frederick and Jette, are probably the most fleshed out and relatable, but at each moment in the book there is at least one person to latch on to.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, and found myself looking for more and more reasons to sneak in some reading time.
Disclaimer: This is a paid review for Blog Her Book Club. I received a copy of the book and am being compensated for my review. All opinions are my own.
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