6/1/2023 0 Comments What belongs to you garth![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Like many of the great novels written in the first-person, this one feels directed at someone, but that mysterious person isn’t necessarily us readers. So convincing is its narrator that it feels autobiographical, though I have avoided asking Greenwell whether he lived and taught in Bulgaria, as it could break the thrilling illusion that reading the book is a voyeuristic invasion of a very real narrator’s private thoughts, actions, memories, and emotions. What Belongs to You is a beautiful first book, with a focus on communication, on understanding (or not), often literally, what other people are saying. Additionally, since the book deals so much with the foreignness of attitudes and emotions as well as language, reading it in transit and in guest bedrooms feels incredibly apt. Partly, this is because the plot is set entirely in Bulgaria, where the narrator is a teacher at the prestigious American College in Sofia. Reading Garth Greenwell’s debut novel, What Belongs to You, abroad - for me, that currently means outside of the United States - is a particularly vivid, and strangely enriching, experience. Sign up for our newsletter to get submission announcements and stay on top of our best work. ![]()
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