- By Annie Hill
The experience of working and living outside one’s home country has long been a source of literary inspiration. We recently published an article about essential reads for those abroad, and asked our readers to chime in with some of their favorites. Here is a selection of books they found interesting as expats:
Fiction:
- “Crazy Rich Asians”- Kevin Kwan A tongue-in-cheek novel about the lives of the fantastically rich, spanning Asia, America, and Europe, and a behind-the-curtain look at Singapore’s upper class. (Suggested by Nicole Neroulias Gupte)
- “Rules of the Wild”- Francesca Marciano East Africa is home to this tale of romance, love of (adopted) country, and the society created by expats in Kenya. (Suggested by Gillian Longworth McGuire)
- “The Imperfectionists”- Tom Rachman Foreign correspondents in Rome run an English-language newspaper and experience the highs and lows of life overseas. (Suggested by Gillian Longworth McGuire)
- “The Expats”- Chris Pavone In this New York Times bestselling thriller, an American woman moves abroad with her husband, and after befriending another expat couple, discovers the life she has been living is not as it seems. (Suggested by Gillian Longworth McGuire)
- “Ishq and Mushq”- Priya Basil An Indian woman moves with her family from Uganda to England, and struggles with financial burdens, her husband’s suspected infidelity, and a long-kept secret. (Suggested by Olga Mecking)
- “Prague” – Arthur Phillips A group of five American expats move to Budapest, each with their own motives, all hoping for a better life abroad. (Suggested by Joshua Pines)
- “Lenin Lives Next Door”- Jennifer Eremeeva A semi-autobiographical tale about an American woman who marries a Russian man, moves to Moscow, and spends years encountering all Russia has to offer. (Suggested by Anne O’Connell)
- “The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul”- Deborah Rodriguez American expat Sunny relocates to Afghanistan in the middle of a war, befriending both expats and locals in the coffee shop she runs. (Suggested by Anne O’Connell)
- “Americanah”- Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie After falling in love in Nigeria, Ifemelu and Obinze take different paths. Ifemelu immigrates to the U.S. to study, and becomes a successful blogger tackling issues of race in modern-day America. Obinze illegally enters England, and then returns to Nigeria, where he becomes a successful real estate developer. The two reconnect and have to make decisions about how to continue their lives and relationships. (Suggested by Ellen Mahoney and Olga Mecking)