In Behold the Dreamers, Jende is an immigrant from Cameroon who has come to America seeking asylum so that he can make a better life for himself, his wife Neni, and their son. Jende finds a job in 2007 as a chauffeur for a Lehman Brothers executive. At first, things seem to be looking up for Jende and his family. His boss Clark is nice and pays him a good wage, which enables his family to live comfortably and allows him to pay his wife's school tuition. But soon Lehman Brothers is on the verge of collapse and Jende's job is no longer secure.
This is a book of hopes and dreams, and also of the importance of family. It's beautifully written and offers an uncompromising view of the tough struggles of an immigrant's life. And yet for all that, I feel the story didn't pull together enough to catapult it from good to great.
One of the shortcomings of this book is that I found each of the adult characters to be unlikable. Jende refuses to hear his wife disagree with him on anything, and resorts to raging at her whenever that happens instead of having a conversation like a normal adult. His wife Neni schemes behind his back and seems immune to reason. The two of them both act like spoiled children, each thinking only of themselves and what they want, instead of trying to understand the other's views and sufferings.
Jende's boss Clark is a coward, hiding things from his wife instead of just coming clean. And his wife is neurotic and needy, unable to let her grown son spread his wings. It seems she has no hobbies or interests other than constantly thinking her life is miserable even though she is wealthy. I don't see what the author is trying to say with these characters other than that everyone is a terrible person, whether they are wealthy or poor.
The book is also a bit long for its content and would definitely have benefited from a tightening of its pacing. The end feels long and drawn out, even though it's clear where it's going. Often, it's better to leave the reader wanting more than to spell out everything for them, which is how the ending felt. And yet, the end of the book left me unsatisfied, like I was waiting for something but nothing happened, or I was waiting for the author to get to the point, but no point was made.
This is probably a case where I expected so much from this book based on its topic and its strong reviews, and it just didn't live up to my expectations.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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