Julie's Reviews > Behold the Dreamers

Behold the Dreamers by Imbole Mbue is a 2016 Random House publication.

This is one of those books that created a fair amount of buzz during 2016. For me, it’s one of those books I wouldn’t ordinarily pick out, but I was curious to know why the book was nominated for so many awards.

I enjoyed the book, initially, and found myself feeling sympathetic towards Jende and his fierce determination to stay in America and create a better life for his family.

I watched with dread as he got sucked into the family drama of his employer and as cracks begin to appear in his marriage.

But, as well drawn as the characters were, the last quarter of the book was just horrendous. The conclusion was certainly not what I was expecting it to be and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

I think the novel points to the unrealistic expectations many immigrants have of the ‘American Dream’, and how difficult it is for anyone to achieve it, even more so during an economic crisis.

The experiences of this family are certainly realistic, which is probably a good thing, since it gives the reader a great deal of insight into the struggles of immigrant families attempting to make a life for themselves in America and the serious challenges they face.

But, perhaps in the mood I’m in currently, I just didn’t want quite that much reality. The change in the character’s personalities, the deflation of ambition, the fighting spirit extinguished, coupled with the attitudes toward women, were very disturbing to me and I was left wondering just exactly what it was about this book that resonated with the critics.

So, I’m kind of scratching my head here, wondering if I’m missing some major point everyone else picked up on. That’s entirely possible, but even so, I still don’t know if there are any missed nuances that could change my mind about how things turned out in the end.

So, overall, this book is well written and realistic, with incredible characterizations, but ultimately, it was not really my kind of book. So here again, I’m stuck with how to rate this one and so I’ll give it the fairest rating I can which is-
3 stars