NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri brilliantly illuminates the immigrant experience and the tangled ties between generations. Namesake is a fine-tuned, intimate, and deeply felt novel of identity from “a writer of uncommon elegance and poise.” (The New York Times)
Meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for home. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world — conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding path through divided loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. "Dazzling...An intimate, closely observed family portrait."—The New York Times "Hugely appealing."—People Magazine "An exquisitely detailed family saga."—Entertainment Weekly
About the Author
JHUMPA LAHIRI, a bilingual writer and translator, is the Millicent C. McIntosh Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Barnard College, Columbia University. She received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for Interpreter of Maladies and is also the author of The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, The Lowland. Since 2015, Lahiri has been writing fiction, essays, and poetry in Italian: In Altre Parole (In Other Words), Il Vestito dei libri (The Clothing of Books), Dove mi trovo (self-translated as Whereabouts), Il quaderno di Nerina, and Racconti romani (Roman Stories). She received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in 2014, and in 2019 was named Commendatore of the Italian Republic by President Sergio Mattarella. Her most recent book in English, Translating Myself and Others, was a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.
Praise For…
This eagerly anticipated debut novel deftly expands on Lahiri's signature themes of love, solitude and cultural disorientation. Harper's Bazaar
This poignant treatment of the immigrant experience is a rich, stimulating fusion of authentic emotion, ironic observation, and revealing details. Library Journal
Lahiri's ... deeply knowing, avidly descriptive, and luxuriously paced first novel is equally triumphant [as Interpreter of Maladies]. Booklist, ALA
Jhumpa Lahiri expands her Pulitzer Prize-winning short stories of Indian assimilation into her lovely first novel, THE NAMESAKE. Vanity Fair
Lahiri weaves an intricate story of ... an Indian family in America. Their bumpy journey to self-acceptance will move you. Marie Claire
[Lahiri] weaves an authentic tale of a Bengali family in Boston... [which] powerfully depicts the universal pull of family traditions. Lifetime
The casual beauty of the writing keeps the pages turning. Elle
...immaculately written, seamlessly constructed novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of INTERPRETER OF MALADIES. Book Magazine
...remarkably assured first novel. Readers will find here the same elegant, deceptively simple prose that garnered so much praise for her short stories. Bookpage
A debut novel that is as assured and eloquent as the work of a longtime master of the craft. The New York Times
Gracefully written and filled with well-observed details. People Magazine
...far more authentic and lavishly imagines than many other young writers' best work. TimeOut New York
Lahiri is insightful on the complexities of foreignness. Boston Magazine
graceful and wonderfully specific prose...A Entertainment Weekly
In the world of literature, Lahiri writes like a native. The San Francisco Chronicle
generous, exacting portrait of the clash between cultural dictates and one man's heart. Boston Globe
Astringent and clear-eyed in thought, vivid in its portraiture, attuned to American particulars and universal yearnings...memorable fiction. Newsday
[Lahiri's] writing is assured and patient, inspiring immediate confidence that we are in trustworthy hands. The Los Angeles Times
Achingly artful, Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel showcases her prodigious gifts. The Baltimore Sun
Lahiri's inventive imagination and mellifluous prose makes her first novel simply wonderful...It's simply splendid. Providence Journal
A fine novel from a superb writer The Washington Post
A delicate, moving first novel. Time Magazine
A debut novel that triumphs in its breadth and mastery. Star Ledger
The novel not only proves the author's ease with the longer form but clearly demonstrates her artistic sensibility. News and Observer
...an accomplished novelist of the first rank, to whose further work we can look forward with confidence and excitement The San Diego Union-Tribune
...simple yet richly detailed writing that makes the heart ache as [Lahiri] meticulously unfolds the lives of her characters. USA Today
A book to savor, certainly one of the best of the year. Atlanta Journal Constitution
[An] exquisitely accomplished novel. San Jose Mercury News
...one of the best works of fiction published this year. The Seattle Times
...leaves its imprint through completely believable, well-drawn characters. Cleveland Plain Dealer
a fascinating journey of self-discovery. The Miami Herald
Emotionally charged and deeply poignant. Philadelphia Inquirer
graceful and beautiful. San Antonio Express-News
Lahiri's latest work doesn't disappoint. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
[The Namesake] speaks to the universal struggle to extricate ourselves from the past. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
...in this second book Lahiri's pace and accent are unmistakable: somber, unrushed, acute in the exposure they offer to life's injuries and to its inroads of hope. The Nation
Lahiri more than fulfills the promise of [her] auspicious debut. Orlando Sentinel
...validates all the accolades she's received to date and beckons for more. St. Petersburg Times
...a poignant, beautifully crafted tale of culture shock. Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Against all that is irrational and inevitable about life, Lahiri posits the timeless, borderless eloquence and permanence of great writing. Pittsburg Post Gazette
