DIGGING TO AMERICA

read of the month DIGGING TO AMERICA BY ANNE TYLER (ALFRED A. KNOPF PUBLISHERS, $24.95)

Even if you've never adopted a child, been widowed, or called a country other than America your home, you'll care about the people in the author's newest novel.

This warm-hearted story follows the families of two Baltimore couples, both happy parents of adoptive daughters from Korea. One husband and wife are American born and bred; the other couple is Iranian.

Topics of bereavement, love, and fear fill the book, but not morbidly. The main thread that connects the characters is that of belonging-feeling at home in a country as well as in one's own skin. The two adopted girls grow and remember talking about digging a hole to China. "So the kids in China," Jin-Ho, one of the girls, said. "Are they digging to America?"

Anne Tyler always digs deeply into the human condition, reminding us that we all share the same emotions, wants, and needs, no matter our native home. -WANDA MCKINNEY

Please e-mail sl_online@timeinc.com. The first 10 readers to respond will receive a free copy of the book.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2006
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