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Home Now: How 6000 Refugees Transformed an American Town
A moving chronicle of who belongs in America.
Like so many American factory towns, Lewiston, Maine, thrived until its mill jobs disappeared and the young began leaving. But then the story unexpectedly veered: over the course of fifteen years, the city became home to thousands of African immigrants and, along the way, turned into one of the most Muslim towns in the US. Now about 6,000 of Lewiston's 36,000 inhabitants are refugees and asylum seekers, many of them Somali. Cynthia Anderson tells the story of this fractious yet resilient city near where she grew up, offering the unfolding drama of a community's reinvention--and humanizing some of the defining political issues in America today.
In Lewiston, progress is real but precarious. Anderson takes the reader deep into the lives of both immigrants and lifelong Mainers: a single Muslim mom, an anti-Islamist activist, a Congolese asylum seeker, a Somali community leader. Their lives unfold in these pages as anti-immigrant sentiment rises across the US and national realities collide with those in Lewiston. Home Now gives a poignant account of America's evolving relationship with religion and race, and makes a sensitive yet powerful case for embracing change.
Like so many American factory towns, Lewiston, Maine, thrived until its mill jobs disappeared and the young began leaving. But then the story unexpectedly veered: over the course of fifteen years, the city became home to thousands of African immigrants and, along the way, turned into one of the most Muslim towns in the US. Now about 6,000 of Lewiston's 36,000 inhabitants are refugees and asylum seekers, many of them Somali. Cynthia Anderson tells the story of this fractious yet resilient city near where she grew up, offering the unfolding drama of a community's reinvention--and humanizing some of the defining political issues in America today.
In Lewiston, progress is real but precarious. Anderson takes the reader deep into the lives of both immigrants and lifelong Mainers: a single Muslim mom, an anti-Islamist activist, a Congolese asylum seeker, a Somali community leader. Their lives unfold in these pages as anti-immigrant sentiment rises across the US and national realities collide with those in Lewiston. Home Now gives a poignant account of America's evolving relationship with religion and race, and makes a sensitive yet powerful case for embracing change.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 2019
29 people are currently reading
520 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Anderson
1 book7 followers Cynthia Anderson is a journalist and fiction writer who grew up in western Maine. Her collection of stories, River Talk, was a Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2014 and received the 2014 New England Book Festival award for Short Stories. Other work has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Boston Magazine, the Miami Herald, the Iowa Review, Redbook, Huffington Post, Forbes.com and others. Anderson lives with her family in Maine and Massachusetts. She teaches writing at Boston University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
October 14, 2019
I’m familiar with Lewiston. I remember 20th-century Lewiston, with its lively Main and Lisbon streets. There were so many brightly-lit stores and restaurants, with the crown jewel being Peck’s department store and its just-like-the-big-city window displays, escalators, and Santa.
The success of the city was fueled by the huge brick shoe and textile factories running down the Androscoggin River, close to downtown. The factories employed native Yankees, but they also attracted huge numbers of immigrants, especially from Ireland and then French-speaking Canada.
In the 1960s, factories began closing and Lewiston’s decline began. Downtown business shuttered and Lisbon Street suffered from one of those ill-considered conversions to a pedestrian-only street.
Starting in the 1990s, things began to turn around. New businesses were attracted to move into the old factory buildings. Even shoemaking recently returned, in the form of a facility to make the iconic L.L. Bean boots. Lisbon Street reconverted to a vehicle throughway, but still many storefronts remained empty and sad.
Then the Somalia influx began in the beginning of this century, followed by refugees from other African countries. Most Somali refugees were attracted to Lewiston by word of its low cost of living, low crime and good public schools and services. They sure weren’t attracted by the winter weather!
Maine is one of the least diverse states in the country, so this new population wasn’t always welcomed. There were ugly incidents like a pig’s head being rolled into a mosque, and the mayor trying to discourage further Somali moves to the city. White supremacists from outside Maine thought it was a great idea to come to Lewiston and have an anti-Somali demonstration, but they were vastly outnumbered by counter-demonstrators and supporters of Lewiston’s new Somali residents.
In the years since, Somalis have opened small businesses on Lisbon Street and taken jobs in some of the resurgent businesses in the old factory buildings. The most significant integration happens in the Lewiston schools, which are growing while other schools across the state are closing. A prior book about Somalis in Lewiston, Amy Bass’s One Goal, depicts how soccer has brought Somalis together with other members of the community.
So much for history. In Home Now, Maine native Cynthia Anderson focuses on individual immigrants and lifelong white Mainers to show the difficult road to melding very different people, and the successes and obstacles along the way. I was touched by how many immigrants from Africa said they had come to love Maine and felt that they shared Mainers’ values of family and hard work.
Anderson interacts with two Mainers who are politically active in an anti-Muslim group, and it’s disheartening to read about their doctrinaire views and reluctance to get to know their Somali neighbors. One of the points Anderson makes a few times is how those least familiar with Lewiston’s Somali community tend to be the most intolerant.
Anderson does a good job in this book allowing us to feel we have come to know some members of the community ourselves. She’s not Pollyanna-ish about the challenges, but she leaves the reader optimistic that those of good will can work together to make a success of this new era in Lewiston.
The success of the city was fueled by the huge brick shoe and textile factories running down the Androscoggin River, close to downtown. The factories employed native Yankees, but they also attracted huge numbers of immigrants, especially from Ireland and then French-speaking Canada.
In the 1960s, factories began closing and Lewiston’s decline began. Downtown business shuttered and Lisbon Street suffered from one of those ill-considered conversions to a pedestrian-only street.
Starting in the 1990s, things began to turn around. New businesses were attracted to move into the old factory buildings. Even shoemaking recently returned, in the form of a facility to make the iconic L.L. Bean boots. Lisbon Street reconverted to a vehicle throughway, but still many storefronts remained empty and sad.
Then the Somalia influx began in the beginning of this century, followed by refugees from other African countries. Most Somali refugees were attracted to Lewiston by word of its low cost of living, low crime and good public schools and services. They sure weren’t attracted by the winter weather!
Maine is one of the least diverse states in the country, so this new population wasn’t always welcomed. There were ugly incidents like a pig’s head being rolled into a mosque, and the mayor trying to discourage further Somali moves to the city. White supremacists from outside Maine thought it was a great idea to come to Lewiston and have an anti-Somali demonstration, but they were vastly outnumbered by counter-demonstrators and supporters of Lewiston’s new Somali residents.
In the years since, Somalis have opened small businesses on Lisbon Street and taken jobs in some of the resurgent businesses in the old factory buildings. The most significant integration happens in the Lewiston schools, which are growing while other schools across the state are closing. A prior book about Somalis in Lewiston, Amy Bass’s One Goal, depicts how soccer has brought Somalis together with other members of the community.
So much for history. In Home Now, Maine native Cynthia Anderson focuses on individual immigrants and lifelong white Mainers to show the difficult road to melding very different people, and the successes and obstacles along the way. I was touched by how many immigrants from Africa said they had come to love Maine and felt that they shared Mainers’ values of family and hard work.
Anderson interacts with two Mainers who are politically active in an anti-Muslim group, and it’s disheartening to read about their doctrinaire views and reluctance to get to know their Somali neighbors. One of the points Anderson makes a few times is how those least familiar with Lewiston’s Somali community tend to be the most intolerant.
Anderson does a good job in this book allowing us to feel we have come to know some members of the community ourselves. She’s not Pollyanna-ish about the challenges, but she leaves the reader optimistic that those of good will can work together to make a success of this new era in Lewiston.
November 10, 2019
Up to the minute and timely, this account of how Lewiston, Maine has been revitalized by the influx of 6,000 Somali refugees, who brought new life to a dying milltown. With several individuals as her examples, Anderson recounts how her "worldview lens" was altered with these new friendships, and it's a story that continues to this day with the election of Safiya Khalid to city council.
October 6, 2019
(Note: I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
I absolutely loved “Home Now,” and not only because it was a thorough and personal look at the challenges and triumphs of the primarily Muslim African refugee community that has helped reshape Lewiston, Maine (which even as a New Englander I had somehow never learned about until now). What has really stuck out to me is how by telling the story of these particular women, men and their families of this specific New England community, Cynthia Anderson tells a modern variation of a story that has been repeated again and again and again throughout the country’s history. It’s the story of those who come from afar, work hard to overcome a myriad of obstacles to start over and make fresh lives for themselves, clash against those who view them as inherently too different to ever fit in, work to resolve the conflict of maintaining their identities while simultaneously adjusting accordingly to their new context, and as they handle their own adjustments they in turn end up changing their new home and eventually make their new communities more diverse, more vibrant, and stronger than they were before. It is nothing less than the story of the immigrant in America, and by telling one specific community’s present-day version of it, Cynthia Johnson does a great service to us in an unfortunate age where there are far too many who continue to wrongfully fear the current generation of newcomers coming to start anew.
I absolutely loved “Home Now,” and not only because it was a thorough and personal look at the challenges and triumphs of the primarily Muslim African refugee community that has helped reshape Lewiston, Maine (which even as a New Englander I had somehow never learned about until now). What has really stuck out to me is how by telling the story of these particular women, men and their families of this specific New England community, Cynthia Anderson tells a modern variation of a story that has been repeated again and again and again throughout the country’s history. It’s the story of those who come from afar, work hard to overcome a myriad of obstacles to start over and make fresh lives for themselves, clash against those who view them as inherently too different to ever fit in, work to resolve the conflict of maintaining their identities while simultaneously adjusting accordingly to their new context, and as they handle their own adjustments they in turn end up changing their new home and eventually make their new communities more diverse, more vibrant, and stronger than they were before. It is nothing less than the story of the immigrant in America, and by telling one specific community’s present-day version of it, Cynthia Johnson does a great service to us in an unfortunate age where there are far too many who continue to wrongfully fear the current generation of newcomers coming to start anew.
November 13, 2019
This is a sensitive, personalized look at African refugees -- mostly Somali Muslims -- in Lewiston, Maine. The author tells their stories, over 20 years' span, their struggle to make a living, raise children, acclimatize themselves to the weather and to the culture. The town had accommodated immigrants in its past -- Irish, later French-Canadian (among the latter was the family of former Maine Gov. Paul LePage) -- but had shrunk in recent decades as the textile and shoe mills declined. Now Lewiston is beginning to thrive again, albeit with tensions between longtime residents and the newcomers.
The author took considerable time to know, and describe the newcomers, as well as longtime residents (including her own family) and one or two anti-Islamic political activists. She focuses on the years 2015-2018, a period of political and ethnic tensions in the US, the election of Donald Trump, continuing tragedy in Somalia where some family members still dwelt, and controversial anti-FGM bills in the Maine legislature. We find resilience among the newcomers, particularly among the women, who juggle children, work and a newfound self-reliance. The reader is apt to come away with empathy, more understanding, and more hope. Lewiston seems to absorb the newcomers and is the better for it. Highly recommend.
Read in advance-reading copy by Amazon Vine.
The author took considerable time to know, and describe the newcomers, as well as longtime residents (including her own family) and one or two anti-Islamic political activists. She focuses on the years 2015-2018, a period of political and ethnic tensions in the US, the election of Donald Trump, continuing tragedy in Somalia where some family members still dwelt, and controversial anti-FGM bills in the Maine legislature. We find resilience among the newcomers, particularly among the women, who juggle children, work and a newfound self-reliance. The reader is apt to come away with empathy, more understanding, and more hope. Lewiston seems to absorb the newcomers and is the better for it. Highly recommend.
Read in advance-reading copy by Amazon Vine.
May 20, 2020
Home Now is terrific book. And an important one. It tells of the transformation of Lewiston, Maine as it becomes home to thousands of African immigrants, many from Somalia, many of them Muslim. How the culture, values and voices of these African people transformed Lewiston, a historically white, middle class city, is at the heart of this narrative. Anderson tells the story, in the best tradition of immersion journalism, by reporting on and following the lives of African immigrants and their families over the course of three years. She also doesn’t shy away from the controversy, narrating the stories of the “detractors” with care and intelligence. Anderson is masterful with the “telling” detail, the specific detail that reveals a larger truth. So, read this book for the compelling story of contemporary immigration and the politics that surround it. But, also, read Home Now for the beautiful and nuanced writing.
December 16, 2019
Journalist Cynthia Anderson’s Home Now follows the experiences of Somali immigrants who moor themselves to the community of Lewiston, Maine in the early 2000s to present. Anderson is an insider, having grown up in Lewiston. Historically, Lewiston was an industrial stronghold owing to the paper mill industry; however, post-industrial changes rendered the community virtually obsolete by the 1980s. Enter the Somali refugees by the early 2000s to kick start the community. Timing led to a tinderbox of relationships between Somalis, other African immigrants like Congolese, and the native Mainers as this was just following 9/11. Nevertheless, Somalis have made Lewiston a thriving community once again argues Anderson.
In a traditional chronological narrative structure, this book follows a cohort of Somali main characters who are predominantly women at different phase of their life including Nasafari, a teenage on the threshold of adulthood and graduation from Lewiston High School; Jamilo, a young single mother who has already endured much hardship in both a genital mutilation procedure in Somalia and two failed marriages one of which is arranged; and Fatuma, a 30-something immigrant activist, wife, and mother of eight. The journalistic writing style makes for an interesting story; however it may have been improved by thematic chapters (e.g. on Ramadan and its impact) rather than a pure chronological (time-oriented) chapter approach. The voices of Somali women are impactful but greater gender analysis might strengthened the overall work.
In a traditional chronological narrative structure, this book follows a cohort of Somali main characters who are predominantly women at different phase of their life including Nasafari, a teenage on the threshold of adulthood and graduation from Lewiston High School; Jamilo, a young single mother who has already endured much hardship in both a genital mutilation procedure in Somalia and two failed marriages one of which is arranged; and Fatuma, a 30-something immigrant activist, wife, and mother of eight. The journalistic writing style makes for an interesting story; however it may have been improved by thematic chapters (e.g. on Ramadan and its impact) rather than a pure chronological (time-oriented) chapter approach. The voices of Somali women are impactful but greater gender analysis might strengthened the overall work.
March 3, 2020
A comprehensive and personal look at the effects of immigration on a small town and community over a generation It is a much needed look at a time when the topic of recent influxes of foreign refugees has become a hot topic issue. While there is no hiding what some might consider a bias, the author is diligent about providing all perspectives in question.
Where this piece falters a little is something that it cannot be 'blamed' for as it is stated directly in the introduction. This is much more of an investigative piece of journalism compiled in a length that is more befitting the complex and interwoven issue that it addresses than a book. As a Maine resident from a different region I truly appreciated an 'inside' look at something that I receive a close to home but still generic report on as it happened. Being between the two generations this depicts it was interesting to compare my assumptions both from what I had heard reported and between the demographics.
I confess that the greatest impact I'll take from this story was the opinions of the community regarding the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) bills and their progression through our courts and the reason for opposition within the community in that it wasn't a question of morals in itself, but one of wording and underlying causes. This book gave a much more comprehensive look at the situation that I as a voter ever was.
A solid read, but it may not hold the interest of general readers who don't have a vested interest in the topic or area.
Where this piece falters a little is something that it cannot be 'blamed' for as it is stated directly in the introduction. This is much more of an investigative piece of journalism compiled in a length that is more befitting the complex and interwoven issue that it addresses than a book. As a Maine resident from a different region I truly appreciated an 'inside' look at something that I receive a close to home but still generic report on as it happened. Being between the two generations this depicts it was interesting to compare my assumptions both from what I had heard reported and between the demographics.
I confess that the greatest impact I'll take from this story was the opinions of the community regarding the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) bills and their progression through our courts and the reason for opposition within the community in that it wasn't a question of morals in itself, but one of wording and underlying causes. This book gave a much more comprehensive look at the situation that I as a voter ever was.
A solid read, but it may not hold the interest of general readers who don't have a vested interest in the topic or area.
March 14, 2020
HOME NOW is painfully relevant just now, as well as being a reminder of the pain that marked the country’s digestion of every earlier immigrant people.
Which could be an opportunity for ax-grinding, but Anderson replaces cant with intimate stories of individuals fracturing and healing their new community with the blood of their effort, failure, resilience and occasional reward.
Anderson knows the story from the granular details of elegant buildings going to seed in a city she knew before it died. She knows, too, the souls from slaughtered families and barefoot flight to years in African refugee tents.
Anderson weaves the evolving strains of time and theme, of characters and circumstance, into a coherent, persuasive whole — making a book that delivers critical information and, not coincidentally, holds a mirror to Americans grown complacent in their comforts.
This is a good book.
But what raises HOME NOW to a luminous experience is the fact that Anderson, as well as a journalist, is also fine writer of fiction. She pays attention to aspects of love and to the smallest, most telling, needs and triumphs. She has the ability to render feeling into page turning narrative. She lives in this city’s evocation of her childhood family and the enveloping family that she joins over a decade of involvement with a new community of people who should be, but are no longer, strangers.
HOME NOW is its own world, and that world is the sort of immersive joy that begs to be read. And if earned hope can be found in all this, and it can, well, there you are.
Which could be an opportunity for ax-grinding, but Anderson replaces cant with intimate stories of individuals fracturing and healing their new community with the blood of their effort, failure, resilience and occasional reward.
Anderson knows the story from the granular details of elegant buildings going to seed in a city she knew before it died. She knows, too, the souls from slaughtered families and barefoot flight to years in African refugee tents.
Anderson weaves the evolving strains of time and theme, of characters and circumstance, into a coherent, persuasive whole — making a book that delivers critical information and, not coincidentally, holds a mirror to Americans grown complacent in their comforts.
This is a good book.
But what raises HOME NOW to a luminous experience is the fact that Anderson, as well as a journalist, is also fine writer of fiction. She pays attention to aspects of love and to the smallest, most telling, needs and triumphs. She has the ability to render feeling into page turning narrative. She lives in this city’s evocation of her childhood family and the enveloping family that she joins over a decade of involvement with a new community of people who should be, but are no longer, strangers.
HOME NOW is its own world, and that world is the sort of immersive joy that begs to be read. And if earned hope can be found in all this, and it can, well, there you are.
January 20, 2020
It's clear that Anderson spent a great deal of time with her subjects in Lewiston, Maine, as she is able to capture some intimate and ordinary moments in their lives. That part of the book is touching. It's also clear she spent years researching and covering this story as we see the progression in the subjects' lives over many years, and that gives the story depth. I would have liked a stronger sense of place (perhaps more history of Lewiston and certainly more richly detailed portraiture of the settings--I know Lewiston but still I could not get a strong visual or textured sense of place). Same with portraiture; she focuses on several people, but while we hear their stories and voices, there is little portraiture. (Here I'm thinking of A.N. LeBlanc's "Random Family" --how she juggled so many characters but each was given enough portraiture that they were memorable and distinguishable). I also wanted to know much more about the background of the subjects, including their journeys to America, with more infomation about the sociopolitical situation that caused them to flee. I think this context would have helped readers understand the enormity of trauma in the lives of refugees. Anderson does mention PTSD, but doesn't give much about the precursor conditions. Having said all this, maybe I am asking too much from a single book (then again, thinking of the stunning accomplishment of Isabella Wilkerson in "The Warmth of Other Suns").
February 10, 2023
Anderson takes us inside the homes and workplaces of both long-time residents and newly-arrived people in Lewiston and Auburn, Maine. It is a fascinating account of how both individuals and communities adapt. I just wish there were a sequel! HOME NOW ends with an unfinished story. That is: the incarceration of a young Somali-American. In an altercation in a park, he threw a rock at another man’s head—with deadly results. This raises questions that could be the start of Anderson’s next book.
How could this tragedy have been prevented, and is there any hope for the young man? Many new Mainers have suffered from PTSD and other conditions as a result of harrowing escapes from war-torn countries. Throwing rocks might have saved the lives of family members, back in Africa. But (just like in South Afria and Northern Ireland) people in Maine need to learn law-abiding ways to settle disputes. As for the incarcerated young man, his family, and the family of the victim: how are they doing? Is there any plan for restorative justice? Are schools, community groups, and elected officials learning and practicing de-escalation techniques? What is being done to minimize the likelihood of future tragedies?
I hope Carol Anderson will write a sequel that answers these questions!
How could this tragedy have been prevented, and is there any hope for the young man? Many new Mainers have suffered from PTSD and other conditions as a result of harrowing escapes from war-torn countries. Throwing rocks might have saved the lives of family members, back in Africa. But (just like in South Afria and Northern Ireland) people in Maine need to learn law-abiding ways to settle disputes. As for the incarcerated young man, his family, and the family of the victim: how are they doing? Is there any plan for restorative justice? Are schools, community groups, and elected officials learning and practicing de-escalation techniques? What is being done to minimize the likelihood of future tragedies?
I hope Carol Anderson will write a sequel that answers these questions!
November 2, 2019
I received a copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.
This book was around 3.5 stars for me.
It's not a particularly dense read. There is a list of "characters" that the book is about and definitions of some Arabic words even though they're defined throughout the book. There also isn't a big primer on the difference between asylum and immigration, so it's easy to get lost if you're not familiar with the process or terms.
The story is fascinating. The author shares her thoughts and her perspective and acknowledges that they're limited. I would have liked to have heard more from the asylees. The book ends in a place where the problems that arise such as culture clashes and struggle county budgets aren't really resolved. Where there is some progress, I would have liked this to have been written at a point where there was some sort of resolution or definitive change to give it more of a story arch.
Overall this is an interesting story that's very relevant.
This book was around 3.5 stars for me.
It's not a particularly dense read. There is a list of "characters" that the book is about and definitions of some Arabic words even though they're defined throughout the book. There also isn't a big primer on the difference between asylum and immigration, so it's easy to get lost if you're not familiar with the process or terms.
The story is fascinating. The author shares her thoughts and her perspective and acknowledges that they're limited. I would have liked to have heard more from the asylees. The book ends in a place where the problems that arise such as culture clashes and struggle county budgets aren't really resolved. Where there is some progress, I would have liked this to have been written at a point where there was some sort of resolution or definitive change to give it more of a story arch.
Overall this is an interesting story that's very relevant.
December 21, 2019
Home Now is a brilliant and deeply insightful portrayal of the immigrant/refugee experience in Lewiston, Maine. Not unlike Kidder and Krakauer, Anderson seamlessly weaves narrative and research, rendering the tiniest yet most significant details into beautiful, meaningful prose. With her intimate and deeply human look into the everyday lives of Somali families, Anderson offers insights into the challenging political and social issues of the Muslim/refugee community living within a very white and often-conservative enclave. Anderson did extensive research for this book, living in the homes of refugees, getting to know her subjects intimately, and diving into the background of the immigrant experience and history of Lewiston. Her powers of observation are remarkable. I marveled at her ability to get into the hearts and minds of her "characters"--who, as it turns out, are very much like all of us. They are mothers and fathers, siblings and friends, community members who care about their children's safety and education, go to work, follow their faith, take their kids trick-or-treating, and juggle the day-to-day challenges of children, work and home.
Amidst this detailed portrayal, Anderson also weaves in the voices of those who oppose the presence of the immigrant community in Lewiston--some of whom are anti-Muslim and others who simply worry about the pressure the refugees put on the already-stretched-thin resources in the city. Again her research is brilliant--Anderson is thorough and committed in her attempts to tell both "sides" of this complex and challenging issue.
In an interesting and deeply personal twist, the author also weaves in her own history. She grew up near Lewiston and shares many memories of visiting there as a child. The book is also a tribute to Anderson's family--in particular her mother--who is featured, albeit subtly, throughout the narrative.
Although not a book I might ordinarily read (I tend toward fiction), I adored this book and learned so much. It's informative, deeply personal, and brilliantly researched and written. Regardless of your political leanings or views on immigration, Home Now is a must read.
Amidst this detailed portrayal, Anderson also weaves in the voices of those who oppose the presence of the immigrant community in Lewiston--some of whom are anti-Muslim and others who simply worry about the pressure the refugees put on the already-stretched-thin resources in the city. Again her research is brilliant--Anderson is thorough and committed in her attempts to tell both "sides" of this complex and challenging issue.
In an interesting and deeply personal twist, the author also weaves in her own history. She grew up near Lewiston and shares many memories of visiting there as a child. The book is also a tribute to Anderson's family--in particular her mother--who is featured, albeit subtly, throughout the narrative.
Although not a book I might ordinarily read (I tend toward fiction), I adored this book and learned so much. It's informative, deeply personal, and brilliantly researched and written. Regardless of your political leanings or views on immigration, Home Now is a must read.
January 22, 2023
At least 4.5 stars. I read this book for a community discussion. I expected it to be worthy but I did not expect it to be so readable. I had a hard time putting this down and read it in just a few sittings.
Cynthia Anderson chooses a handful of characters and follows them closely through the election year 2016 and beyond. Most of her high-quality reporting covers Lewiston’s African immigrant communities, their history and their day-to-day, tough times and triumphs. She also gives space to the Maine chapter of a national-level anti-Islamist group and their mostly unsuccessful effort to outlaw what they see as sinister Islamic practices. And she folds in parts of her personal story, from visiting an aunt in then-bustling Lewiston as a child through the process of deciding where her aging mother would live with advice from her new Muslim friends, in ways that support the main plot without making the book about her. Just really excellent journalism about a vital but little-known community and part of Maine’s recent history.
Cynthia Anderson chooses a handful of characters and follows them closely through the election year 2016 and beyond. Most of her high-quality reporting covers Lewiston’s African immigrant communities, their history and their day-to-day, tough times and triumphs. She also gives space to the Maine chapter of a national-level anti-Islamist group and their mostly unsuccessful effort to outlaw what they see as sinister Islamic practices. And she folds in parts of her personal story, from visiting an aunt in then-bustling Lewiston as a child through the process of deciding where her aging mother would live with advice from her new Muslim friends, in ways that support the main plot without making the book about her. Just really excellent journalism about a vital but little-known community and part of Maine’s recent history.
March 5, 2023
Interesting book and I am hopeful about the future of Lewiston. I do agree with other reviewers that the content can start to get repetitive. Paragraphs are sometimes wordy in a way that doesn’t move the book forward.
Finally, as an immigration lawyer, I felt the author didn’t fully understand the realities behind what it takes to win an asylum or refugee case. Anderson writes, “Catherine Besteman and others say refugees are sometimes told to reconfigure their personal histories to conform to resettlement requirements.” I disagree with the premise that explaining one’s qualifications for refugee resettlement or asylum is a “reconfiguration” of personal histories - in every case, one must demonstrate how the history of one’s life makes one eligible for these humanitarian protections, and I do not find that resulting explanation to be a “reconfiguration.”
I wish the author had presented thoughts that seemed more her own, based on a fuller, less surface-level understanding of asylum and refugee law, rather than quoting that of others.
Finally, as an immigration lawyer, I felt the author didn’t fully understand the realities behind what it takes to win an asylum or refugee case. Anderson writes, “Catherine Besteman and others say refugees are sometimes told to reconfigure their personal histories to conform to resettlement requirements.” I disagree with the premise that explaining one’s qualifications for refugee resettlement or asylum is a “reconfiguration” of personal histories - in every case, one must demonstrate how the history of one’s life makes one eligible for these humanitarian protections, and I do not find that resulting explanation to be a “reconfiguration.”
I wish the author had presented thoughts that seemed more her own, based on a fuller, less surface-level understanding of asylum and refugee law, rather than quoting that of others.
August 17, 2020
This was such a fun book to read! She's such a good journalist; she's such a good storyteller! She follows a couple of individuals and families over a few years, and we watch as a dying town thrives again with the influx of refugees from Somalia and the Congo. What's fascinating is watching the views and reactions of the townspeople change across the years. As a reporter, she records the views pro and con, and gathers and states the actual data and facts, which contradicts the fears of anti-Islamists. She's open to changing her own views when she gets enough information, and interacting with her Muslim friends caused her to develop a closer relationship with her own mother. I went in with an intellectual belief in the Oneness of Mankind, and came away with a gut feeling of how good it would be, how much it would benefit my life, how fun it could be to have close friends who are immigrants. I've just now started learning some words in Somali to become more welcoming to my neighbors.
May 25, 2021
Cynthia Anderson has done a commendable job of giving readers a glimpse into the lives of the many immigrants to Lewiston, Maine. Alongside the personal narratives that she pursues over the course of a few years with several characters, she also provides intermittent background history of the immigrants' native country situations as well as local history of the Lewiston area. Though Anderson is progressive in her politics, she is not surreptitious about her views, and she gives a fair shake and hearing to folks on both sides of the many controversies that have taken place in Lewiston/Auburn, as well as in the state at large, in the past 15-20 years. This is not an academic monograph. It is an engaging encounter with a well-chosen sample of personalities in the immigrant community and other involved locals. I especially enjoyed the book because I've lived in and around Lewiston for the majority of my lifetime and personally know a few of the characters featured in the book.
October 8, 2019
I worked with Somalian refugees in Cleveland, before they continued their journey to Columbus, so I've found their plight interesting to read about. They aren't the only refugees I've had contact through the years and often look up info on how their communities are getting along. I hadn't heard about the Lewiston refugees and thought the book would be an interesting study of the Somalian refugees there. I get first hand info about our Columbus refugees from people who work to help them get established in their new communities. Home Now was a pretty good account, it could have used a bit more info, but overall, it gives insight into the community and it's people and relationships between the town and the refugees. Lite read, but informative.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
I received a Kindle arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
March 19, 2020
The 6000 refugees come primarily from Somalia, although other African countries are represented. Most are Muslim. Their move from the American cities they first settled in to Lewiston, ME began in 2001. Although their presence predates the Trump administration, they are still impacted by his administration's anti-Muslim policies.
The author grew up in Lewiston, so her book has to balance her personal reflections and experiences with her reporting of the facts. She does it well, although I felt she got into the weeds in places. Descriptions of a Somali family's trips to Walmart distracted from the real thrust of the story, as did the author's accounts of dealing with her aging mother.
If you want to further your knowledge, try "Why Do They Hate Us?: Making Peace with the Muslim World" by Steve Slocum.
The author grew up in Lewiston, so her book has to balance her personal reflections and experiences with her reporting of the facts. She does it well, although I felt she got into the weeds in places. Descriptions of a Somali family's trips to Walmart distracted from the real thrust of the story, as did the author's accounts of dealing with her aging mother.
If you want to further your knowledge, try "Why Do They Hate Us?: Making Peace with the Muslim World" by Steve Slocum.
July 31, 2020
I appreciated the read, HOME NOW as it is a reminder of the necessity to address comprehensive immigration policies, attempts that continue to be derailed. The chronicle of African immigration to Lewiston, Maine is an intimate look at the contributions that people from other countries can offer, and especially in areas of our country that have lost industry and much of its younger population. With Anderson's return home, her investment in building relationships within the African community allows us to know people like ourselves with hopes and dreams of a bright future, highlighting core values and aspirations that we share in common with our culturally diverse neighbors. I think her experience makes the case that diversity enriches our community and is worth the initial discomfort. The payoff is huge when we get to know individuals; they are no longer 'the other'.
September 30, 2020
A journalistic peek into the lives of several Somali immigrants in Lewiston, Maine. Anderson also briefly explores the modern wave of anti-immigrant action and rhetoric that led to several state laws banning sharia law and female genital mutilation, and presaged (and was strengthened by) the election of Donald Trump.
As interesting as it was to learn how these newest Americans eke out a place for themselves in a country that is only less hostile to their presence than the refugee camps they left from, I think the book ran longer than it needed to. The ending was also somewhat disappointing, given the journalist's need to close the story somehow, and her inability to create an ending worthy of those she was writing about.
As interesting as it was to learn how these newest Americans eke out a place for themselves in a country that is only less hostile to their presence than the refugee camps they left from, I think the book ran longer than it needed to. The ending was also somewhat disappointing, given the journalist's need to close the story somehow, and her inability to create an ending worthy of those she was writing about.
February 29, 2020
Three and a half. Anderson's immersive look into the growing community of African immigrants, primarily of Somali origin, in the traditionally-white city of Lewiston, Maine, yields a rich investigation. She highlights the successes, challenges, and conflicts of several individuals, whom she follows closely on their journeys. She lends a personal touch throughout, revealing intimate glimpses into the protagonists' lives, while also pulling back the lens to examine the historical and social context of rapidly-changing demographics in Lewiston.
I read this before attending a writing workshop with Ms. Anderson, hosted at the University of Southern Maine.
I read this before attending a writing workshop with Ms. Anderson, hosted at the University of Southern Maine.
April 8, 2020
Anderson brings us a vital piece of creative non-fiction in Home Now. I grew up a Franco-American in the western foothills of Maine in the same town (and vintage) as she. Lewiston was once my mecca too. In dire times for our growing diaspora, bourgeoning with new Mainers who revitalize our bereft and forgotten cities, abandoned by industry, Andersen, without sentiment or manipulation, shines a bright light on the struggles, brilliant and terrifying, of our brave neighbors “from away,” as Mainers describe non-natives. In so doing, I can only hope that her message of compassion and acceptance will bloom like the painted trillium that graces our woodlands.
March 20, 2023
Lewiston, Maine, thrived until its mill jobs disappeared and the young began leaving. But then, over the course of 15 years, the city became home to thousands of African immigrants and, along the way, turned into one of the most Muslim towns in the US. Now about 6000 of Lewiston's 36,000 inhabitants are refugees and asylum seekers, many of them Somali. Cynthia Anderson tells the story of this fractious yet resilient city near where she grew up, offering the unfolding drama of a community's reinvention --and humanizing some of the defining political issues in America today.
I recommend this book.
I recommend this book.
March 19, 2021
This book tackles very difficult subject matter with an open lens. Anderson successfully balances the history of Lewiston, its 'natives', and the histories of Somali refugees/immigrants from culturally different positions. Each refugee we meet in Home Now is presented with real humanity and attention to detail. Likewise, each native Lewiston is presented with care particularly around sensitive political issues. Home Now is a well-written, thoughtful exploration of the difficulties of assimilation and blending cultures.
July 21, 2021
When I read Home Now by Cynthia Anderson I knew that I was reading Truth. Truth that could be discussed and Truth from which we can grow and learn. The first person, nonfiction narrative gave authenticity to the information/thoughts/feelings shared about the timely, important issue of immigration/relocation/reinvention/acculturation/assimilation. Books such as Home Now give us an opportunity to ask questions about and seek answers to important social justice/ humanity issues. I highly recommend this book.
February 3, 2020
This was a wonderful book - thoroughly enjoyed it. Anderson did an exemplary job of presenting a sensitive topic in a human and sensitive way without being saccharine or disingenuous. I was particularly impressed that her ability to humanize extended even into her fair and objective presentation of those opposed her subjects. This was a refreshing read, positive and encouraging. I wish that these were the stories that were told (and heard!) more often.
Copy provided by Netgalley.
Copy provided by Netgalley.
February 12, 2020
What a great look at how Lewistown, Maine, a town of 35,000, became home to 6000 African refugees, many from Somalia. They made it work although not without some bumps along the way. We hear mostly from the refugees in the story. It would have been nice to have had more of the voice of those who lived their before as to how the town changed. The author indicates that the town largely supported those who came into their community.
June 19, 2020
I live in Maine, not far from Lewiston, and yet knew so little about this population. I thought the author treated the subject in a reasonably balanced way, including the views of long time Lewiston residents who were less than thrilled about the new residents (but many of whom eventually came around). She dealt head on with the difficult topic of female genital mutilation, without unfairly stigmatizing Somalians. Overall a good book, though the writing style was at times a bit soap opera-ish.
August 24, 2020
Anderson's "Home Now" is an exploration of immigration, an in-depth look at the confluence of race, religion, values, and the hard wall of conservatism in Maine's second-largest city of Lewiston. The writing is, somehow, both factual and personal, a blend of clear narrative and creative insight, full of color and sound, of tension and ease. The Lewiston I have known for most of my life is being transformed by the immigrant Somali population--their slow, but steady, inclusion rings bells to the promise of change.
January 14, 2021
In the early 2000's Somali refugees began coming to Lewiston Maine. There were already a few settled there but the influx continued until the town was trying to absorb and support 6,000 new people.
Cynthia Anderson gives a realistic and compelling account of the challenges faced by the town and its existing inhabitants as well as the re-settlers and their efforts to assimilate in their new country.
Cynthia Anderson gives a realistic and compelling account of the challenges faced by the town and its existing inhabitants as well as the re-settlers and their efforts to assimilate in their new country.
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