Whereabouts

"I've never stayed still, I've always been moving, that's all I've ever been doing. Always waiting either to get somewhere or to come back. Or to escape."

This is a beautiful novella, written in various saynètes around various themes - at the supermarket, at the shop, at the nail salon, at the hotel. They tell of the solitude of an affluent middle-aged woman. Most revolve, one way or another, around ageing, being alone, mostly enjoying that solitude but not being completely sure. She is an observer - of the life around her, and of her own life. The tone is detached, the writing clean and precise, and read nearly like a diary of sorts; I first discovered Jhumpa Lahiri's writing with 'An Interpreter of Maladies' and she has evolved in terms of settings - going for a single woman in her late forties rather than young couples and younger women - but the writing remains the same, personal, unburdened, talking about transitions and moves. I really loved it.

Lahiri is one of the finest writers in the world and this book is as good as her best. Beautifully written and very profound.

"Why does it take me so long to get out of the house this morning? What bewilders me, even here at home? I'm finding it harder and harder to get up and do things right away: react, move, concentrate."

I thought this was an absolutely beautiful novel. It is impeccably written, with so many beautifully stark and emotionally perceptive sentences, infused with a deep melancholy. The themes - loneliness, dissatisfaction, isolation, growing old - really rang true, especially during Lockdown 2 (or is it 3? Lmao I've lost count).

I'll be honest: I've read two other Jhumpa Lahiri books (two short story collections) and they really did not stick in my memory at all. This, though, I thought was really impressive. Clearly, writing in Italian and then translating it back to English has done something to her: her voice, style. I went down a definite wormhole reading about this book's background: how she wrote it in Italian, her obsession with Italian, her belief that it is always possible to change. After a year in which I felt SO, SO, SO emotionally, physically, and mentally stagnant and stuck, this kind of attitude felt like a very, very badly needed breath of fresh air for me, and EXTREMELY inspiring and hope-inducing.

The book has no plot to speak of. It's a series of short passages (meditations, if you will). The narrator is a middle-aged single woman - a spinster, basically. As she puts it: "Solitude: it's become my trade. As it requires a certain discipline, it's a condition I try to perfect. And yet it plagues me, it weighs on me in spite of my knowing it so well." She is moody, and suffers from what she calls a "dull slothfulness" that ALL of us can relate to (don't @ me). She was a good daughter - quiet, obedient - and is now a good academic. The city is presumably Rome, though it is never specified.

A big part of the book I absolutely LOVED were all the bits about wandering around the city -shopping for a particular cheese, the shiniest of eggplants. Would have I loved this as much if I weren't in lockdown? Who knows. But God, I needed it: the beautifully precise observations of "the cauliflower leaves and clementines that always fall out of their wooden crates." The wonderful details: "The blistered heels of girls in flip-flops who can't stand their punishing ballerina flats anymore." She eavesdrop on arguing couples, goes to antique fairs, buys secondhand books of poetry at flea markets. "Every purchase, however mundane, makes me happy. Each item validates my life somehow."

The book is like Knausgaard is the sense that it's preoccupied with what it calls the "banal, stubborn vestiges of life". Another theme throughout the book is youth vs age, and the woman's melancholy (dare I call it depression?). And yet at the end of the book there IS a transformation of sorts, a metamorphosis. God, it makes me want to cry. If there is hope for her, is there hope for us too? Can we change our lives? Can we be happier?

Some books come by when you need them most, and I think this book was very much like that for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

"I'm me and also someone else, I'm leaving and also staying. This realization momentarily ruffles my melancholy, like a current that stirs the branches of trees, that discomfits the leaves... I've never stayed still, I've always been moving, that's all I've ever been doing. Always waiting either to get somewhere or to come back. Or to escape."

Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri

Whereabouts is one of the most beautiful and poetic books I’ve read in a long time.

We follow a woman’s life as she walks along her pavement, to the piazza, the coffee shop, swimming pool and we hear her conversations and about her celebrated loneliness and independence.

If you’re looking for a deep plot and suspense, this isn’t the book for you. What it is, is a strong character-led book which shows thoughts, wants and beliefs of one woman who you neither like nor hate. There isn’t really a beginning or an end, it’s a snippet of someone’s whole life, which is pretty deep if you think about it.

You may like this book if you liked Stoner or Girl, Woman, Other

Review – Whereabouts

Summary:

Soulfully narrated in a flowing, evocative prose, Whereabouts is a collection of personal essays of a woman who lives a solitary life, alone but not lonely.

What I loved:

Imagine finding a diary or a personal journal. You don’t know who left it behind, but you are curious and you start leafing through it. And a for a little moment in time, you are transported to a serene world. A world inhabited by the woman who wrote the journal. She goes for a walk, meets friends for dinner, walks a friends dog, goes on a day trip, spends a quiet afternoon in the piazza. And all throughout, she finds little snippets of profound thoughts and recollections that she pens down.

This is the world you see in Whereabouts – Jhumpa Lahiri’s captivating new book, written in a flawless, dazzling prose that is so characteristic of her.

Although I loved reading her books like the Namesake, which is basically a single story, I most enjoy her short story collections like Unaccustomed Earth. It just goes to show the breadth of her talent and why Lahriri is one of the most prolific writers of our times.

Final words: There's always a certain kind of melancholy about Jhumpa Lahiris writing. One that fills you with longing and compels you to slow down and savour the little aspects of life; like buying stationery, or reading the newspaper. A book that will be my top recommendation for everyone this year.

Thank you Bloomsbury and Netgalley for my Advanced Readers Copy.

What a beautiful piece of literature. From the first page to the last, the writing is exquisite and melodious, giving you a sense of comfort and wellbeing.

Jhumpa Lahiri turns the everyday into the vibrancy of life. The routine and familiar into aspects of intimacy and passion we would otherwise miss. I could spend time in the company of the narrator without thought of where else I needed to be. Now removed from her conversation I feel a sense of regret and loss.

Originally written in Italian it is translated by the author herself and it reveals her poetic soul. The language is enchanting. You feel warm through your whole being. More a reflection on the wonder of life and the things around you. You don’t feel like a confident listening to gossip; you don’t feel you are just nodding in the right places. You feel part of the woman’s life, as integral to her being and presence as her shoes. Not just seeing with her eyes but engaging all your senses.

This is beyond storytelling. It is fiction that borders on a reality that lifts the characters from the page and has you wishing you could independently reach out to them.

This book is charming. It will appeal to everyone, especially single and career minded women like the narrator or men who easily fall in love. It is about the simple things in life we might allow to pass us by in our daily rush and dash.
It is a celebration of life and the pleasures of Italy.

I loved the style and content of short chapters that were like a lived in news report, personal, honest and self-effacing. The short articles have a continuity and a passing chronology that builds up into a bigger picture and lifts the prose beyond just random diary entries.

It is an unusual style of fiction; this almost factual recounting of travels and observations. It has completely won me over to this writer and left me feeling more alert to seeing rather than just being. Whether being somewhere, time spent with someone or engaged in a mundane task.

It is life-affirming and a feel good book you could give to anyone. (Short instalments, unlike a novel. Never trying to be preachy, like a “thought for the day”) The recipient of this book will be forever grateful to you.