Nancy Green is brought up in a secularized Jewish home during the
1960s. Her world feels small and she often longs for something grand
but is afraid to pursue it. Throughout the story, the focus is on her
three loves; that of a Jew from Hasidic background who decided to
become a monk; a tempestuous relationship between her and Yvon
who is caught at a crossroads between his own desires and that of his
mother's; and then of Nancy and a man who would briefly be her
husband. Unfortunately, the marriage is not to be, and while trying to
heal from wounds, memories of Yvon begin to pursue Nancy and she
begins to seek him, only to realize that time is fleeting and waits for no
one. Will Nancy be able to defeat the time, or will she become its
victim?
On the surface, AMERICAN
STRANGER by David Plante appears to be a simple story of a
young Jewish woman seeking love, but going deeper, AMERICAN STRANGER is anything but
simple. It's a story to analyze and go over and over in trying to
understand what the author has meant or was talking about. It's also a
story of extremes between various cultures as well as groups, and what
happens when it comes to extreme manifestations of either being too
open for the world at the loss of cultural identity versus being too
shunned off from the world with little to no knowledge of the world.
The title itself is a double play on how I imagine Nancy Greene and
Yvon feel in America, as strangers as well as how Nancy feels when she
briefly lives in England and tries her best to become part of her
husband's couple. Compared with Nancy's friends and her choice of
partners, she literally feels lost because Americans weren't really
featured in the book, but instead ethnic minorities were.
AMERICAN STRANGER is really not
a story to rush through, and it invites the reader to think and wonder
about identity, along with Nancy's romantic path in terms of her
partner. It's a story of a strange silence, how little events penetrate the
ultimate decisions that characters make about themselves. They are
seen and felt, but on a larger scale are like drops in the ocean.
If you are looking for a story that engages the mind using American
identity and something more cerebral, but at the same time asks you to
understand a different mind, AMERICAN STRANGER does dare answer that call and
more.
Brought up in a secular household on Manhattan’s Upper
East Side, Nancy Green knows suspiciously little about
her parents’ past. She knows they escaped Germany,
avoiding the fate of so many of their fellow Jews during
World War II, but the few family heirlooms they brought
to the United States are reminders of a lost life that,
for Nancy, remains shrouded in mystery. She seeks
connection and a sense of belonging, a relationship in
which she can find some sort of religious fulfillment.
Unfortunately, Nancy’s first encounter is with a Hasidic
man who, dissatisfied with Judaism, has taken vows to
become a monk. Then, while studying English literature in
Boston, she meets a Catholic boy who captures her
interest, but he’s desperate to escape his overbearing
mother and the clutches of the Church.
After a devastating breakup, Nancy finally settles down
with a husband whose background and beliefs seem at least
similar to her own. Perhaps now she’ll stop yearning for
something more, and trade volatility and heartbreak for a
sensible, practical life. But forcing a fit—into a
society, a sect, a family, or even a marriage—isn’t easy
for anyone, and Nancy still has a long way to travel
before she finds her true home.
From an acclaimed author of both fiction and memoirs,
including National Book Award finalist The Family,
American Stranger is a wise and insightful story about
the search for identity, and how our real lives are far
more complex than our labels.
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