World and Town by Gish Jen is a novel that tackles big subjects with tenderness and grace and humor. At the heart of the novel is Hattie Kong, a retired science teacher who is a descendant of Confucius. Now in her late 60's and living in a small New England town, she gets a chance to start over-possibly with her long ago love that she hasn't seen in over 30 years.
Jen enters the tricky territory of science vs. religion, immigrants in America during the time of 9/11, and simply what it means to be a good neighbor and a part of the larger community.
The novel is written in several different voices, and at times I found this a bit distracting. However, it did paint a deeper picture of each character, as Jen delves into their histories and disects their lives to help us understand how they come to be who they are, and why they act in the ways they do.
This is a well written, engaging, deeply moving novel. I look forward to reading more from this author.
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