Three strangers from very different backgrounds travel the United States together in America for Beginners by Leah Franqui. Pival is the rich Indian widow who booked a trip to California via New York, Las Vegas and many other American cities in between. Satya is her tour guide, although this is his first tour and doesn’t know much more about America and the sights they’re seeing than Pival. Rebecca is the female companion hired for the tour at Pival’s request. Each of them is running from suffocation, shame, or fear in their lives; until, without realizing it, they all start running towards something more.

This is a character driven story that pulls at the heartstrings without being sentimental. I’d recommend it for anyone want to reading travel fiction, but also for anyone looking for a character-centric narrative. This is our book club selection for August. You can find it on our shelves both in our regular fiction at F FRA and also in Large Print at call number LP F FRA.