Book Review – “A Good American” by Alex George

I rarely read plan old ordinary fiction. I read lots of mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, romance and other genres of fiction but not just “regular” fiction books.  So I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

Have you seen the ads or promotions from Ancestry.com talking about how every family has a story or stories that are passed down from generation to generation but just might not be 100% accurate? Sometimes they are funny stories and sometimes they are stories modified to hide some perceived shameful or embarrassing truth from decades ago. Every family has secrets; some big, some small.

“A Good American”, written by Alex George, is a story of an immigrant family’s path to not only America (the country) but becoming American. While Jette amd Frederick’s journey is one of serendipitous circumstances at some points and fraught with unforeseen complications at other times, it is no more and no less than any other immigrant’s story. Told from the viewpoint of James, grandson of Jette and Frederick, the book chronicles how his grandparents met, married and moved to America. It follows their path to Missouri where they stop and put down roots. James continues the story of his grandparents, parents, and his siblings as the years go by and the family becomes more and more the classic American family.

I must admit there are a few surprising plot twists that I totally did not expect in the book. No spoilers here – you have to read the book for yourself to find out about them. All I will say is that the twists help make the story come alive and even more worth reading.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading “A Good American”. I recommend you add it to your To Be Read List.

“A Good American” is being discussed over at BlogHer Book Club starting today.  I encourage you pop over to see what other people are saying about this book and join in the discussion!

Elizabeth

{Disclosure:  This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions and thoughts expressed are 100% my own. The photo of the book links back to Amazon.com via Amazon Associates program.}