You Bring the Distant Near is a heart-warming family saga following the women of one family as they navigate the uncertain waters of identity, assimilation, and family. It has a wonderful cast of diverse women who are brave and tender. By taking the time, Perkins shows us the power of open-mindedness, love, and the ability to change our minds.

So I was absolutely blow away by the amount of nuanced ethnic representation here. While the majority of the family is Bengali, there’s much more - half African American, and varying different experiences of religion, culture, and opinions. Each of the characters, especially the women, were intricate. Not only that, but ethnicity, stereotypes, and prejudice play a huge role in the book. Not only are our main characters encountering challenges fitting in, but also against their families (and within their families).

And there were, of course, tons of little things I loved, like the mentions of other books, or the little details in the settings. One of the things I absolutely loved was Sonia’s love of writing and books. This basically sold me the novel from the beginning as I fell in love with her and was able to see her family change. There were also amazing quotes throughout the book that make reading not only educating, but also entertaining.

I truly enjoyed this book! The characters were strong and clear, each with his or her own motivations and personalities. The storyline was engaging the whole way through - I wish there hadn't been so much time that passed in-between sections, though, that we got more of the transition stories between the generations. This book could have been 500 pages and I would have devoured it all.

I'd heard lots of good things about this novel, which bumped it to to the top of my to-read lists of ARCs. I read most of it while on vacation and it seemed like a good fit - it touches upon hefty topics, but it's relatively easy reading. I liked the construction of the book, though I was a bit surprised by the first Ranee chapter - seemed to come out of nowhere for me. Similarly, I was disappointed that Starry was mostly missing from the last section of the book - Sunny makes several appearances, but Starry is always mentioned in passing. Overall, though, I very much enjoyed this multigenerational tale of women defining and understanding their identities.

Thanks to the publisher for a digital advance reader's copy, provided via NetGalley.

You Bring the Distant Near is a three generational saga about a Bengali family that migrates to London before coming to America. The author speaks through the voices of the women in each generation (during the years 1965 - 2006) and deftly shows the inward conflict immigrants face about trying to "fit in" while still honoring their original culture. It was intriguing to view America through the eyes of immigrants, and also interesting to learn different aspects of their culture; that the Bengalis also have a color-based caste/class system and that inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages are highly discouraged. I found it fascinating how the interactions between husband and wife, and parents and children changed the longer they were exposed to the American culture.

This is a beautifully written book that is well worth the time to read it!! Enjoy!

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Children's Publishing group for providing me with an ARC of this delightful book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I really wanted to fall in love with this book, but I did feel that parts were jumbled, confusing and some disconnect from the characters. But I still recommend it for those who are looking to read more immigrant stories, a diverse read or reading something different altogether. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. Check out my linked review for my full thoughts.

http://lowereastsidelibrarian.info/reviews/perkins/youbringthedistantnear

Fascinating stories of different generations in a transplanted Indian family, growing up in 1960s-80s. Mitali Perkings is a wonderful writer who captures the various personalities and conflicts of race, culture, and environments over the life of a family (particularly daughters)!

YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR by Mitali Perkins is a multigenerational story of immigrants to America. Two Bengali daughters, Tara/Star and Sonia/Sunny move from London (after Ghana) to New York with their parents. For Tara, who aspires to be an actress, copying Marcia Brady means she has a sense of what to wear and how to act in 1970s America as she and her more rebellious yet studious sister learn to adjust to high school.

Eventually, they fall in love, marry and have children of their own who struggle in turn with adolescent issues of identity and questions relative to race, culture and tolerance. Those cousins, Chantal and Anna, forge a special relationship with their immigrant grandmother, Ranee, who memorably has her own identity crisis while still revering her late husband. In fact, the title of Perkins' young adult novel refers to a line in a poem which the patriarch of this family recited to his bride and reflects their sometimes hidden affection and esteem along with the value of acceptance. YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR focuses on the importance of family, despite occasional stresses, and on mother-daughter conflicts as well as cultural assimilation.

The novel is a fairly quick read and its 720 Lexile score should add to appeal for reluctant readers, although girls will have the most interest given the main characters and arc of the story. YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR has potential for a Junior Theme with immigrant experience emphasis (it has been referred to as an easier, Asian Indian version of The Joy Luck Club) or possibly as a mother/daughter read for a freshmen or sophomore advisory. Starred reviews from Booklist, Horn Book, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

What a beautiful and gorgeous book! There's nothing more satisfying than when a story stays with you for a long time, and you carry it in your thoughts. If you know anything about me, I truly love multi-generational complicated stories that highlights relevant themes.

This book is a truly powerful voice that is needed in the YA community. We follow three generations of an Indian-immigrant's, Bengali family, and we get a look into the nuance of culture and what it means to be biracial, and lots of feminism that's highlighted. If I could use one word to describe to this book, it would be important.

Ranee is raising her two daughters, Sonia and Tara in a relatively American-focused culture and is worried that they'll use a part of their Indian culture. Sonia is in a "forbidden" biracial relationship, and a raging intersectional feminist that is trying to remake herself. Tara dreams of becoming a actress in the spotlight.

Ultimately you will be delighted reading about the complicated relationships of sisterhood, parenthood, and the nuances of being a biracial individual. Then we also follow the perspectives of the two daughters of Tara and Sonia. In total, there are five kickas* women's stories that we get to explore, and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect.

I couldn't stop reading this, because of the character's who were propelling it forward. All of the characters were so interesting and messy and I absolutely adored it. At first, there were a couple of extremely unlikable but the author frames it this way where you understand why the character does what it does.

Diverse, lush, fantastic, a new favorite that I want everyone to push up on their tbr.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

Loved this novel about the immigrant experience. Poignant and funny. Highly recommend this one.

I really loved this book. It explores the experiences of being an immigrant, being multicultural, and being multiracial through the stories of five women in three generations of an Indian Bengali family loving in New York. They had distinct personalities and their own ways of seeing the world. I also loved the explicit feminist themes.

This title brings together several strong female voices of the Das family tree. The reader is first treated to the experiences of sisters, Tara and Sonia Das. They are each struggling with the difficulty of navigating their new home in America. Sonia feels like the outcast in her family, though she excels at school. Sonia fights for female equality and other civil rights, even though their mother doesn't like her outspoken nature. Tara is not as academically gifted, but she shines as an actress. Tara quickly fits into her new home by mentally becoming Marsha Brady. Each sister finds a way to cope in her new environment. The novel continues to follow the sisters as the grow up and fall in love. Tara feels the strong pull of her Indian roots, while Sonia falls in love with a wonderful African American man. The sisters each have a daughter of their own. Their daughters are continued to be pitted against each other by their grandmother, like their mothers were before them. However, the change in old prejudices and values encourages the families to find ways to connect and remain strong.

When I first read the reviews about this being a generational novel, I was super confused. The perspectives do alter throughout time, though it does take several pages for it to happen. This read like an adult novel and if the grandmother's perspective was developed more and present more, it could be an adult novel.

The Good
I really enjoyed this book. It can be hard to do the multiple viewpoints, jumping through time sort of thing, but it worked here. For the most part, there were two time periods and they were kept separate, so I was never confused about who was narrating or what was going on.

The book hits on lots of important themes: death, love, marriage, belonging, etc., etc. It’s an immigration story, but it’s also a lot more than that. In particular, I appreciated the biracial relationship and the narrative of their child. This is something that I definitely want to see more of in literature and I thought it was portrayed well here. There were problems, but there were also success, and it wasn’t all drama drama drama all the time. I really liked how identity was portrayed in this case.

The Bad
At some points, I wanted more. The narration occasionally separated me a bit from the action. This wasn’t a huge problem, though, and didn’t make me like the book less. I just wanted more details about everything because I liked it so much!

The Verdict
A lovely addition to the Asian American books coming out recently. I recommend it.

We start off meeting Sonia and Tara, two sisters of Indian parents, who are moving to New York having lived in London, Ghana, and India. Although sharing some of the same family issues, the sisters approach their integration into American culture very differently and with results that reflect their personalities. As this novel skips ahead from 1965 to 2006, we are introduced to Sonia's and Tara's new families and offspring, and the cousins' relationships become interwoven with their mothers and grandmothers. With great warmth, this novel describes an extended multi-cultural family, with its tensions, losses, closeness, and resolutions.

The Das women have a complicated history and identity. Perkins’ novel spans 40+ years, three generations, and four continents. Through multiple voices, the reader quickly learns the complicated narrative shared by mothers and daughters and discovers what it is that ties us all together. If you liked All We Have Left or Still Life with Tornado, you’ll like this.

Thank you to Macmillan and Netgalley for the advance copy of this book. I was on the fence about whether it would resonate with my middle school readers, and now I cannot wait to get this into my students' hands!
.
Mitali Perkins has woven a masterful tale that encompasses three generations of the Das family. They leave India in the 1960s, and after several stops arrive in the United States. The story is filled with the ups and downs of living within a new culture, and shows the strong ties that family and heritage have and how it shapes the identities of generations to come. I honestly can't do it justice; I just hope my students can either find themselves or open their eyes to a reality that is different from their own in these pages.

I have long been a fan of Mitali Perkins, and YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR has further solidified my dedication. This book is a masterpiece. I felt real emotion for the characters and loved the structure which allowed insight into three generations of women from the same family. There is so much to admire about this book - it throws open the door to deep reflection on family, women, culture, love, community...Mitali Perkins at her very best.

I really enjoyed this book and was captured by the writing from page one. I also enjoyed learning about Indian culture which I, unfortunately, do not know much about. The only reason I am giving it three stars is because I feel like it wrapped up rather quickly and that we did not get to know Ranee's granddaughters as well as her daughters.