A Novel Approach

She said I’d adore it. But I’m a person that loves to postpone gratification so I held off until I was tingling with excitement. I changed into something comfortable, poured myself a tiny glass of sherry, and began.  I was into it for about twenty minutes and… I hated it.  Was I being too hasty?  I’d give it a few more minutes.  Nope.  Absolutely detested it.  “How could she like this?” I asked myself.  I got up and paced.   I picked up the phone to call her but I didn’t want to hurt her feeling – this was the first time she’d steered me wrong.  When I’m frustrated chocolate always helps so I slammed the novel shut, threw it on the coffee table and headed for my secret chocolate stash.

I love to read but not this sentimental patriotic junk. But my mind kept whispering, “Aren’t you overacting just a teeny bit, Judy?  Put down the chocolate and let’s explore why you’re so angry”.

Brief storyline:  Young beautiful Iranian woman goes to The United States on a three month visa looking for a man to marry so she can remain in the country…and she falls in love with the American people and freedom they have. She meets the man of her dreams but there’s only one problem – he’s not Iranian.  After several misunderstandings rooted in cultural differences and fear of her parents’ reactions, she realizes that the handsome barista is her destiny.

Simple enough formula:  desire – obstacles – resolution.  No reason to feel so disgusted.

What didn’t seem fair (that four letter “F” word frequently used by the naive) was that the author described Iran as a terrible place and America as perfect.  I know.  I know.  Authors write for their readers and every writer hopes to publish so, in this case, she was trying to tempt English speakers to buy her book. But my gut told me that she was pandering to a blindly patriotic audience and I would have no part in it. 

Then I thought of my parents. They were born and grew up in Greece and, when they had the opportunity, they left.  My mother had seen American movies of leading ladies wearing gowns and furs and so, being a poor village girl, she used her small savings to have a satin apricot colored gown sewn for the dances she imagined she would attend aboard the ship. She didn’t know that even if she hadn’t been seasick the entire voyage, she wouldn’t have been allowed to join the first class passengers.  She might have had second thoughts about her dream when, once they arrived in New York, my father brought her to live on the lower East Side in a cold water, walk-up flat where they shared the toilet with three families. Although they recognized the positive and negatives of both countries, when they were financially able, they never returned to visit Greece; they vacationed in Hawaii instead.  Hmmm.

My husband and I left The States willingly.  We wanted a better and different life.  My husband isn’t naïve – he sees the problems of both countries. But I’m absolutely defensive about Mexico.  I don’t want to hear anything negative about it.  However, I often complain about the problems that exist in the country where I was born.

Click.  I sound amazingly like the protagonist of the novel that my friend loaned me.  I see everything right about Mexico. I love the freedom I have to walk the Malecon late at night and watch the families laugh and play with their children.  I enjoy the music of Mexico and the food.  I’m still amazed that we can sit in a restaurant for hours and not be handed the check until we ask for it.  I even love that when I’ve been stopped for a driving infraction I’m able to drive away with a warning and a five minute Spanish lesson instead of a ticket.  

If I can see the positives of my life in Mexico, why shouldn’t a fictional character love her adopted country?  Why am I allowed to see the negatives of my birth country but the novel’s heroin shouldn’t?  She and I are emotional twins who enjoy cultural change. 

It took me three days and six bars of Trader Joes 75% dark chocolate to finally find peace.  I opened the novel and started over and this time I laughed and empathized with the protagonist.  And when I finished the book, I called my friend and thanked her for loaning me the novel because it isn’t often that a simple story challenges us to wrestle with our beliefs and win.