PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Behold the Dreamers: A Novel
A novel about a Cameroonian immigrant couple in New York confronting the American Dream during the financial crisis.
Work Information
In a city of opportunity and uncertainty, a family's dream is tested from all sides.
Set against class divisions and precarious work, the novel carefully maps the gap between hope and reality.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Random House
- Published
- 2016-08-23
- Pages
- 400 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 16.28 x 3.18 x 24.18 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780812998481
- ISBN-10
- 0812998480
- Price
- 4916 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Historical
A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream—the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy New York Times Bestseller • Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award • An ALA Notable Book NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • The New York Times Book Review • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Chicago Public Library • BookPage • Refinery29 • Kirkus Reviews Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice. Praise for Behold the Dreamers “A debut novel by a young woman from Cameroon that illuminates the immigrant experience in America with the tenderhearted wisdom so lacking in our political discourse . . . Mbue is a bright and captivating storyteller.” — The Washington Post “A capacious, big-hearted novel.” — The New York Times Book Review “Behold the Dreamers’ heart . . . belongs to the struggles and small triumphs of the Jongas, which Mbue traces in clean, quick-moving paragraphs.” — Entertainment Weekly “Mbue’s writing is warm and captivating.” — People (book of the week) “[Mbue’s] book isn’t the first work of fiction to grapple with the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, but it’s surely one of the best. . . . It’s a novel that depicts a country both blessed and doomed, on top of the world, but always at risk of losing its balance. It is, in other words, quintessentially American.” —NPR “This story is one that needs to be told.” — Bust “ Behold the Dreamers challenges us all to consider what it takes to make us genuinely content, and how long is too long to live with our dreams deferred.” — O: The Oprah Magazine “[A] beautiful, empathetic novel.” — The Boston Globe “A witty, compassionate, swiftly paced novel that takes on race, immigration, family and the dangers of capitalist excess.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Mbue [is] a deft, often lyrical observer. . . . [Her] meticulous storytelling announces a writer in command of her gifts.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
Imbolo Mbue is a native of the seaside town of Limbe, Cameroon. She holds a BS from Rutgers University and an MA from Columbia University. A resident of the United States for more than a decade, she lives in New York City. Behold the Dreamers , her critically acclaimed debut novel, won the 2017 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was named by The New York Times and The Washington Post as one of the notable books of 2016. It was also named as a best book of 2016 by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The novel also won the 2017 Blue Metropolis Words to Change Prize.
Reviews
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リーマンショック前後のニューヨークで、アメリカンドリームに裏切られる移民とリーマン重役の物語
Jende Jongaは祖国カメルーンでは実現不可能な夢を叶えるためにアメリカに渡り、ようやく妻と幼い息子を呼び寄せた。２００７年にJendeは幸運を手に入れた。それは、リーマン・ブラザーズの重役Clark Edwardsのプライベート運転手の仕事だった。運転手の条件として「時間厳守、秘密保持、忠誠心」を求められたJendeは、それを心から誓った。Clarkと家族を運転するうちに、裕福で何の苦労もなさそうなEdwards一家にも深刻な悩みがあることをJendeは悟った。 祖国ではJendeよりも上流家庭で育った妻のNeniには、十代で妊娠したために厳格な父から高等教育を諦めさせられた苦い思い出がある。Neniの夢は、アメリカで薬剤師になることだ。その夢の実現のために、Neniはパートタイムで働きながら家事もし、猛勉強もしていた。ところが、せっかく良い成績を取ったというのに、再び妊娠したために、夫から仕事と学校をやめて育児に専念するよう命じられてしまう。しかも、弁護士が軽く約束していた夫のグリーンカード確保の道が拒否され、退去強制の可能性が出てきた。Neniは、なんとかして、子どもたちだけでもアメリカンドリームを叶える道を残せないものかと画策する。 そんなとき、リーマンショックが起こり、ドミノ式に起こったEdwards家の問題に巻き込まれてJendeは運転手の職を失った。JendeとNeniは、夢と現実の間で争うようになる……。 作者のImboro Mbueは、本小説のJendeやNeniのようにカメルーンのリンベ出身の女流作家だ。だが、JendeやNeriとは異なり、アメリカの大学と大学院で学び、2014年にアメリカ国籍を得た。デビュー小説にランダムハウスから百万ドルの契約金を得ただけでなく、2016年にPEN/Faulkner賞を受賞し、今年2017年6月には、オプラ・ウィンフリーの「ブッククラブ」の小説に選ばれたのだから、「アメリカンドリーム」を実現した移民と言えるだろう。 『Behold the Dreamers』には、文芸小説にありがちな「近寄りがたさ」がなく、テレビドラマのようにすんなりと読める。 舞台は、サブプライムローンの問題が浮上してきた2007年から、リーマン・ショックと金融危機に引き続いてオバマが大統領に就任した2009年までのウォール街だ。アメリカンドリームが膨らんで弾け、多くの人が職を失った劇的な時代だ。 カメルーン移民の夫婦から見たリーマン・ブラザーズ重役一家の暮らしはきらびやかだが、彼らが決して幸福ではないことはすぐにわかる。アメリカンドリームを実現したはずの人たちなのに、その成功が彼らを不幸にしているのだ。JendeやNeniは、自分の子どもたちがアメリカで大学に行き、医師や弁護士になることを夢見ているのだが、すべてを手に入れた成功者のアメリカ人の子どもたちは、弁護士を嫌って、インドでナチュラルな暮らしを実現しようとしている。それに呆れるJendeたちの反応は、アメリカの移民一世に共通したものだ。 『Behold the Dreamers』は、とても正直な小説でもある。 アメリカンドリームの要素は「お金」だ。お金がなければ愛は存続できないが、お金があっても愛は破壊される。 Mbueは、ウォール街の重役を悪者のカリカチュアにすることもなく、カメルーン移民のJendeやNeniを天使のように描くこともない。すべての登場人物がリアルで、彼らの失敗にすら同情心を覚える。 エンディングには正直がっかりしたが、それ以外は非常によくできた現代小説だ。アメリカの移民が抱える問題は、10年後の現在も改善するどころか悪化している。そういう意味でも、タイミングが良い作品といえるだろう。
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Narra las experiencias de los emigrantes con un lenguaje sencillo. Vale la pena leerlo.
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I really loved this book for its narration and characters. With all the talk of immigration and the sentiment against it, this book reiterated what it means for people to come to the United States and try to make it home. This is an engaging and beautiful portrait of an immigrant family from Cameroon, and their sojourn in NYC. Their reactions to their surroundings is fascinating, as is their conflicting feelings about staying vs returning home. I found the husband and wife quite poignant in the difference with which they each examined what returning to Africa would mean. The wife knew she could never have the kind of profession she wanted in the home country, even as a rich man's wife, whereas the husband could carve out a proud existence for himself amidst the old customs. "Behold the Dreamers" isn't just about the Jonga family, but also the Edwards family. Clark Edwards works for Lehman Brothers, and he and his socialite wife, Cindy, and their two sons, live the privileged life of the rich and successful; the 1%. As the story begins, Jende has gotten a coveted job as a driver for Clark Edwards. The year is 2007 and so the reader knows what Jende and Clark do not; the imminent demise of Lehman and the destruction of the US economy. While driving Clark, and his family, Jende learns of the perks and privileges of the rich. Soon Neni is asked to help Cindy in the Hamptons over the summer and she, too, learns about the "lifestyle" of the rich and prosperous. These passages are among my favorite because they highlight the acute differences between the lives of the rich and the lives of the poor in the US. What Clark and Cindy find to be huge problems, Jende and Neni can only puzzle over. The way ordinary people perceive "rich people's problems" is fascinating. Yet, Mbue doesn't paint the Edwards family as being callous or intentionally cruel; the are portrayed as having their own demons - real to them. In fact, neither the Jongas not the Edwards are portrayed as saints. Mbue gives all her main characters realistic human vices and virtues. All seems well until Jende and Neni are suddenly thrust in the middle of Clark and Cindy's marriage, which has become chaotic. Each is keeping a secret from the other, and only Jende and Neni know these incendiary secrets.As the novel rushes to conclusion, we are left to question not merely the American verses the African condition, but our shared human condition as a whole.
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Perhaps the headline of this review doesn't make it sound too interesting, but I truly couldn't put it down. Cameroonian immigrant Jende Jonda, his wife Neni and their six-year-old son Liomi live in Harlem and struggle to make ends meet until the day Jende lands a job as a chauffeur to a rich Lehman Brothers stockbroker. Clark Edwards, his wife Cindy, and their children appear at first the exact opposite of Jende and Neni-- privileged, affluent and a very attractive couple with plenty of means and leisure time to impress their large circle of friends. But the longer he works for the Edwardses, Jende and Neni (who gets a summer job with the family as a cook and nanny to the Edwardses young son), become more and more aware that the rich couple have their own set of challenges. When the stock market collapses, double tragedy strikes. A sad but beautifully written and thought-provoking debut from Imbolo Mbue.
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What a Beautiful book!!! I just finished reading it and I am smiling from ear to ear. This is the best thing I've read in a long time. Thank you Imbolo Mbue for both ur beautiful books. I had sad days, happy days....I cried and laughed reading both of them.
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What a great human story this is, of this young couple from Cameroun battling to survive and live the American Dream in New York City when the financial crisis of 2008 hits. The author truly brings these african voices to life and puts us firmly by their side. Fascinating and truly assured writing for a first-time novelist.