The Newlyweds

Nell Freudenberger

May 2012 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In The Newlyweds, we follow the story of Amina Mazid, who at age twenty-four takes a leap of faith and moves from Bangladesh to Rochester, New York, for love. But as their relationship deepens, they discover that they both carry secrets from their pasts.

“A big, complicated portrait of marriage, culture, family, and love. . . . Every minute I was away from this book I was longing to be back in the world she created.” —Ann Patchett

Amina Mazid is twenty-four when she moves from Bangladesh to Rochester, New York, for love. A hundred years ago, Amina would have been called a mail-order bride. But this is the twenty-first century: she is wooed by—and woos—George Stillman online.
 
For Amina, George offers a chance for a new life for her and her parents, as well as a different kind of happiness than she might find back home. For George, Amina is a woman who doesn't play games. But each of them is hiding something: someone from the past they thought they could leave behind. It is only when Amina returns to Bangladesh that she and George find out if their secrets will tear them apart, or if they can build a future together.

Ratings and reviews

I simply couldn't put The Newlyweds down. Amina, the protagonist, is complex and deeply relatable. Freudenberger crafts a captivating narrative from start to finish. Highly recommend this book and I'm looking forward to reading her other two.

Not the ending I wanted. How does one know who one is suited to and who one should choose?

This is a decent read on a rainy day, but dont expect major discoveries

About the author

Nell Freudenberger is the author of the novel The Dissident and the story collection Lucky Girls, winner of the PEN/Malamud Award and the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; both books were New York Times Book Review Notables. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, and a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellowship from the New York Public Library, she was named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists and one of The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40.” She lives in Brooklyn with her family.