Whereabouts: A novel

From the award-winning author of The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies comes something completely new and different, but also something one might expect from a winner of the Pulitzer of Prize. Whereabouts is about an unknown woman in an unknown Italian town, covering a year of her life teaching there. She is single and seemingly lonely, but still has friends and familiar faces she sees often. She has an everyday routine she goes through, but she also experiences a number of unexpected happenings.

The story is told through a series of very short chapters, lasting three to five pages. The writing is, of course, wonderful, although overall the reader is left feeling somewhat confused and a little bored. The sparseness of details about who the character is and what their life is like makes it hard to connect with them. They seem unhappy and unimpressed with everything and spend their time complaining. It isn’t until toward the end of the book that the reader actually sees some connection with each chapter and that the events occur chronologically. Overall, it’s a little disappointing.