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A Dog in Georgia: A Novel
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Paperback
Published August 4, 2026
About the author
Lauren Grodstein
13 books431 followersLauren Grodstein is the author of the upcoming A Dog in Georgia, the Read with Jenna pick We Must Not Think of Ourselves and the New York Times bestselling A Friend of the Family.. She directs the MFA program at Rutgers University-Camden.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 23, 2026
I found this book thinking it would be a light hearted read about a woman who loves dogs, like myself, and goes to Georgia to find a beloved dog.
I did not expect to be reading a book that comments on the idea of “self rule” in every aspect of the word. The dogs demonstrate self rule, Georgia is fighting for self rule, Amy is discovering self rule, America preaches self rule.
In a time of political turmoil and watching people in our communities be rounded up with force, very much mimics the experience of the Georgians, this book makes you think.
I did not expect to be reading a book that comments on the idea of “self rule” in every aspect of the word. The dogs demonstrate self rule, Georgia is fighting for self rule, Amy is discovering self rule, America preaches self rule.
In a time of political turmoil and watching people in our communities be rounded up with force, very much mimics the experience of the Georgians, this book makes you think.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2026
Rescue after rescue, she put parts of herself back together. The loneliness of her childhood. The disappointments of her marriage. from A Dog in Georgia by Lauren Grodstein
Amy is married to the love of her life. (If only he could remain faithful.) She adores his son whom she raised, his birth mother an addict whose life she has saved several times. Amy teaches a class now and then and writes about food. And she finds missing dogs.
Amy has been following a street dog in Georgia (the country) on social media. The dog guided school children across the street. Angel is beloved. And missing. Amy has been sending money for the search. She rashly decides that only she can find Angel and buys a ticket for Georgia.
She stays with Irene whose basement is filled with rescued street dogs. Grandmothers and a daughter and a lodger from Russia fill the other rooms.
As Amy searches the city for Angel, she discovers glorious food. She long lost her mojo but feels attracted to the Russian. Irine’s daughter Maia fills her in on her generation’s protesting against Georgia’s reuniting with Russia.
At age forty-six, Amy is discovering who she is outside of the roles of wife and mother. With insight into what is happening in Georgia she understands America’s political situation in a new way.
But the real thing that this place could offer, if you were looking for it, was the chance to see a kind of future, and to learn what was necessary to prevent it. from A Dog in Georgia
We think we are reading a dog story, then a story about a woman, wife and mother, who plays by the rules but still feels broken. A story about rescuing others to make oneself whole. It is. But its also a story about how we get so caught up in the personal that we lose the big picture of a world changing for the worse. How we accept the unthinkable because it does not seem to matter, personally.
“I think it was not possible for an American to understand our life here.” Irine admits to Amy. But Amy has seen Maia risk for freedom. She knows that Irine had to act against her judgement under political duress.
We read on. Does Amy find Angel? Will Amy have the courage to leave her comfort zone and risk growth and freedom? What the book can’t answer for us is central: Can Americans understand what it means to risk everything for freedom?
Thanks to Algonquin Books for a free book.
Amy is married to the love of her life. (If only he could remain faithful.) She adores his son whom she raised, his birth mother an addict whose life she has saved several times. Amy teaches a class now and then and writes about food. And she finds missing dogs.
Amy has been following a street dog in Georgia (the country) on social media. The dog guided school children across the street. Angel is beloved. And missing. Amy has been sending money for the search. She rashly decides that only she can find Angel and buys a ticket for Georgia.
She stays with Irene whose basement is filled with rescued street dogs. Grandmothers and a daughter and a lodger from Russia fill the other rooms.
As Amy searches the city for Angel, she discovers glorious food. She long lost her mojo but feels attracted to the Russian. Irine’s daughter Maia fills her in on her generation’s protesting against Georgia’s reuniting with Russia.
At age forty-six, Amy is discovering who she is outside of the roles of wife and mother. With insight into what is happening in Georgia she understands America’s political situation in a new way.
But the real thing that this place could offer, if you were looking for it, was the chance to see a kind of future, and to learn what was necessary to prevent it. from A Dog in Georgia
We think we are reading a dog story, then a story about a woman, wife and mother, who plays by the rules but still feels broken. A story about rescuing others to make oneself whole. It is. But its also a story about how we get so caught up in the personal that we lose the big picture of a world changing for the worse. How we accept the unthinkable because it does not seem to matter, personally.
“I think it was not possible for an American to understand our life here.” Irine admits to Amy. But Amy has seen Maia risk for freedom. She knows that Irine had to act against her judgement under political duress.
We read on. Does Amy find Angel? Will Amy have the courage to leave her comfort zone and risk growth and freedom? What the book can’t answer for us is central: Can Americans understand what it means to risk everything for freedom?
Thanks to Algonquin Books for a free book.
August 21, 2026
A Dog in Georgia is such a thoughtful, unexpectedly funny story about losing yourself while spending years taking care of everyone else. Amy’s decision to travel to Tbilisi to find Angel, the dog she has become obsessed with through YouTube videos, initially feels like an escape from her husband’s possible affair and her stepson leaving for college. I loved how the search for Angel becomes almost secondary as Amy starts questioning what happened to the chef she used to be and why she stopped doing something that once gave her so much joy.
The Georgian setting really made the story for me, especially the food, stray dogs, post-Soviet grandmothers, and the people Amy meets along the way. Her relationships with the rebellious teenager and mysterious Russian add some fun unpredictability, but it’s Amy’s gradual willingness to acknowledge her own wants and appetites that gives the book its heart. It’s a warm, character-driven story about realizing that finding yourself sometimes requires getting very far away from the life you thought you were supposed to want.
The Georgian setting really made the story for me, especially the food, stray dogs, post-Soviet grandmothers, and the people Amy meets along the way. Her relationships with the rebellious teenager and mysterious Russian add some fun unpredictability, but it’s Amy’s gradual willingness to acknowledge her own wants and appetites that gives the book its heart. It’s a warm, character-driven story about realizing that finding yourself sometimes requires getting very far away from the life you thought you were supposed to want.
August 17, 2026
I like this book it was something new and different.
August 18, 2026
Cloud library. Quirky fun read
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews