The Namesake

Jhumpa Lahiri's name is synonymous with the immigrant experience, a theme that permeates much of her work, including "The Namesake," which tells the story of the Ganguli family. Her sympathetic depictions of characters from India who come to live in the United States are frequently cited as evidence of Lahiri's great ability to depict cultural clashes and conflicts on an emotional level. However, some critics have noted that Lahiri's predominant focus on such subjects has sometimes led her away from the more rationally-based subject matter and more technical writing style of her traditional fiction.