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The Immigrant's Refrigerator
If luck is on an author's side, a book reaches its audience at the right time. Elena Georgiou's The Immigrant's Refrigerator can confidently make this claim. Populated with a cast of characters that shine the light on what it means to be an outsider in the early part of the 21st century, this story collection takes its reader into the private lives of those who have entered a country legally, others who were forced to enter illegally, and the rest who call a country home as a result of birth; characters searching for what they need to sustain them on their journeys towards a future that will not only be a place of refuge, but also one of hope.
Elena Georgiou's exquisite collection could not be more timely. At a moment when America's political response to The Other is triggering a national crisis of conscience, these poignant stories remind us of the vital role that human compassion plays in bridging ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic divides. Inside The Immigrant's Refrigerator, the foreign and the familiar share and trade shelf space. Unspeakable sorrows and distant joys appear in the form of bacon, hummus, homemade bread. Papaya salad. Whatever the delicacy, Georgiou's secret sauce is the essential goodness of humanity. Citizens of Maine nourish Somali immigrants with handcrafted chocolates. A refugee from Niger comforts his grieving host in Vermont by teaching her to savor Brie. Sustenance acquires profound meaning in these tales of endurance, hope, and the abiding power of quiet generosity.
-Aimee Liu, author of Flash House and Cloud Mountain
The Immigrant's Refrigerator is a quietly devastating collection of stories about loners, craving love and connection, trying to survive in a world where war is always raging somewhere and happiness is a phantom of the future. That these loners are Americans as often as they are immigrants and refugees is this collection's greatest strength. Elena Georgiou's voice is quirky and surprising; her ability to turn a phrase upside down invites us to experience the world and ourselves in a new way. There are no easy answers in The Immigrant's Refrigerator; Georgiou's focus is on tipping a moment over the edge to find the broken pieces of our shared humanity. And yet, and still, it is a celebration of life in all of its scars and joys, chance and invention, awe and longing to be seen, and, over and over, a testament to the tender, transformative power of acceptance and love.
-Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, author of Hiroshima in the Morning and Why She Left Us
Elena Georgiou is a dazzlingly good writer. The thirteen stories in The Immigrant's Refrigerator are stirring, wise, and keenly alert to the longings and contradictions that impel their beguiling characters. I loved this collection.
-John McManus, author of Fox Tooth Heart and Bitter Milk
Elena Georgiou's exquisite collection could not be more timely. At a moment when America's political response to The Other is triggering a national crisis of conscience, these poignant stories remind us of the vital role that human compassion plays in bridging ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic divides. Inside The Immigrant's Refrigerator, the foreign and the familiar share and trade shelf space. Unspeakable sorrows and distant joys appear in the form of bacon, hummus, homemade bread. Papaya salad. Whatever the delicacy, Georgiou's secret sauce is the essential goodness of humanity. Citizens of Maine nourish Somali immigrants with handcrafted chocolates. A refugee from Niger comforts his grieving host in Vermont by teaching her to savor Brie. Sustenance acquires profound meaning in these tales of endurance, hope, and the abiding power of quiet generosity.
-Aimee Liu, author of Flash House and Cloud Mountain
The Immigrant's Refrigerator is a quietly devastating collection of stories about loners, craving love and connection, trying to survive in a world where war is always raging somewhere and happiness is a phantom of the future. That these loners are Americans as often as they are immigrants and refugees is this collection's greatest strength. Elena Georgiou's voice is quirky and surprising; her ability to turn a phrase upside down invites us to experience the world and ourselves in a new way. There are no easy answers in The Immigrant's Refrigerator; Georgiou's focus is on tipping a moment over the edge to find the broken pieces of our shared humanity. And yet, and still, it is a celebration of life in all of its scars and joys, chance and invention, awe and longing to be seen, and, over and over, a testament to the tender, transformative power of acceptance and love.
-Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, author of Hiroshima in the Morning and Why She Left Us
Elena Georgiou is a dazzlingly good writer. The thirteen stories in The Immigrant's Refrigerator are stirring, wise, and keenly alert to the longings and contradictions that impel their beguiling characters. I loved this collection.
-John McManus, author of Fox Tooth Heart and Bitter Milk
- GenresShort Stories
180 pages, Paperback
Published February 6, 2018
2 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 20, 2018
This is an amazing set of stories, evocative and authentic in voice--and, despite admitting of pain and isolation and fear in individual, unique lives, ultimately a compassionate call for understanding the human experience. The situations of the characters, relevant to the current moment, move the plots along; the stories are brief encounters with people who feel knowable and real, even if their circumstances vary from the reader's.
There are one or two stories I found slightly weak, but only by comparison with Georgiou's other really stellar short fiction pieces in this book. Highly recommended.
Oh, and buy the book from GenPop, the publisher, if you can--rather than second-hand on Amazon. The reason? A percentage of the profits go toward the Vermont Refugee Resettlement programs.
There are one or two stories I found slightly weak, but only by comparison with Georgiou's other really stellar short fiction pieces in this book. Highly recommended.
Oh, and buy the book from GenPop, the publisher, if you can--rather than second-hand on Amazon. The reason? A percentage of the profits go toward the Vermont Refugee Resettlement programs.
April 10, 2018
Every single one of these stories is an exquisite gem, although my heart resides with two in particular. Read them all and then share with your friends. Absolutely contemporary depictions of the economy, immigration (as the title suggests), sex work, you name it. Wonderful. Bravo.
November 13, 2018
Really strong writing across nationalities, genders, and sexual orientation! The last two stories were especially strong
February 17, 2018
In just a few stories, Georgiou delves deep into a wider variety of lives than I've ever seen covered in one book. What unites these stories and what makes the book so wonderfully good is the depth of humanity she touches in each of them. I think reading this book could change the world. It changed mine. Go recommend it to your book club already.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews