Book Review
Digging to America
By ANNE TYLER
This is Anne Tyler's seven teenth novel. Like most of the others, it is set in Baltimore, where Tyler lives. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for Breathing Lessons, and is widely read and praised.

Digging to America tells the story of two families who adopt Korean babies at the same time. The Donaldsons, very American, meet the Yazlans, of Iranian origin, for the first time at the airport where they have all come to receive the newly adopted little girls. There are many, many Donaldsons, complete with balloons and toys and name tags ("Mom, Dad, Cousin.") Sami and Ziba and Sami's mother Maryam are the only Yazdans there, and wait quietly, though no less happy to greet their new family member.

Tyler's main strength as a writer is her characterization. The reader comes to know the rather large cast well, and to care about their happiness. No earth-shaking events take place, yet the episodes of family life and the contrast between the two families are absorbing. Bitsy, the Donaldson mother, is assertive and opinionated, but she is kind and a good friend to Ziba.

Ziba is less secure, and the Yazdans change Sooki's name to Susan, so that she will be more comfortable as an American, they think. Bitsy, on the other hand, wants Jin- Ho to keep her Korean heritage as much as possible. (Tyler does not seem to make judgments about these attitudes, but presents both sides.) Bitsy enthusiastically befriends the Yazdans, and on the anniversary of the airport meeting, initiates an annual "arrival party" where the families get together for food and fun and the video taken on that day.

As the months and years progress, we learn that Jin-Ho heartily dislikes that video and makes a point of never looking at it. The point of view shifts among the characters smoothly, focusing mainly on Bitsy and Maryam. The future is important to all these people, and the reader's interest is held by the possibilities for them.

Not only are the little girls growing and changing, but also there is illness, a death, and an improbable romance. Tyler is a keen observer of America and Americans, and she gently reassures us that life is worth living and people are worth knowing.

Digging to America is available at the Mary Willis Library.

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