This novel reads like a collection of short stories interwoven into one narrative, which I found out after reading, it was.
The central character is Reyna, a single mother in NYC, who has a boyfriend in prison and a well-cultured aunt on the other side of town who she gets on well with.
When her boyfriend is released from prison he has a money making scheme which Reyna decides she cannot be a part of. This decision means the end of her relationship and also ends in tragedy for one character.
We also get to see the back story of Aunt Kiki, who was once married to a Turkish rug seller and lived in Turkey herself. She returns to New York with two of his beautifully woven rugs, one of which she gives to Reyna.
The novel is more episodic than plot driven and shows the ripple effect on other characters of Reyna's decision.
It starts and ends by focusing on Reyna and Kiki but the middle section of the book focuses on particular individuals and how their lives are affected by the decision Reyna made not to take part in her boyfriend's 'business' plan.
Each character's lives are interwoven (fitting with the theme of rugs)
through varying degrees of separation and as a reader you are left hoping that somehow they will all come together with what common ground they share but they don't.
What they do all share though, is the book's other theme, unsurprisingly given the title, of improvement. Each character somehow improves their lives or makes steps to improve them, be it physically, emotionally, morally, financially or spiritually.
The writing is clever and I would definitely say this is literary fiction. It is an uplifting, enjoyable read, but I was left wanting more. If you are into plots driven stories, you probably won't like this as it is more just about certain points in the characters' lives. It is a good demonstration of the ripple effect and thematically fitting.
Aunt Kiki was my favourite character.
The central character is Reyna, a single mother in NYC, who has a boyfriend in prison and a well-cultured aunt on the other side of town who she gets on well with.
When her boyfriend is released from prison he has a money making scheme which Reyna decides she cannot be a part of. This decision means the end of her relationship and also ends in tragedy for one character.
We also get to see the back story of Aunt Kiki, who was once married to a Turkish rug seller and lived in Turkey herself. She returns to New York with two of his beautifully woven rugs, one of which she gives to Reyna.
The novel is more episodic than plot driven and shows the ripple effect on other characters of Reyna's decision.
It starts and ends by focusing on Reyna and Kiki but the middle section of the book focuses on particular individuals and how their lives are affected by the decision Reyna made not to take part in her boyfriend's 'business' plan.
Each character's lives are interwoven (fitting with the theme of rugs)
through varying degrees of separation and as a reader you are left hoping that somehow they will all come together with what common ground they share but they don't.
What they do all share though, is the book's other theme, unsurprisingly given the title, of improvement. Each character somehow improves their lives or makes steps to improve them, be it physically, emotionally, morally, financially or spiritually.
The writing is clever and I would definitely say this is literary fiction. It is an uplifting, enjoyable read, but I was left wanting more. If you are into plots driven stories, you probably won't like this as it is more just about certain points in the characters' lives. It is a good demonstration of the ripple effect and thematically fitting.
Aunt Kiki was my favourite character.