Stealing the Ambassador: A Novel

by Sameer Parekh

Caught between a father who thought success and freedom could be found only in America and a grandfather who risked his life to guarantee such ideals in their homeland of India, twenty-three-year-old Rajiv Kothari is lost in a nation he has always called home and beckoned by the one his father left long ago. "Stealing the Ambassador" is a literary page-turner that blends the experiences of a first-generation Indian American with those of his immigrant father and revolutionary grandfather, their intertwined stories probing the balance between fiction and history, between old country and new, between fathers and sons. Following his father's sudden death, Rajiv finds himself alone and bewildered. As he attempts to reconstruct his father's life, he begins to better understand his own, and when he chances to meet a new Indian immigrant, eerily reminiscent of his own father, their uncanny interaction grants Rajiv insight into the euphoria that his father felt when he first arrived in the country and its gradual deterioration into frustrated estrangement.

Events lead Rajiv to a reverse migration, back to the subcontinent of his father's birth. There he reconnects with his aged grandfather -- once a saboteur responsible for bombings in pre-Independence British India and now mysteriously destitute. Discovering the source of this impoverishment, Rajiv is awakened to a second understanding of his childhood hero, a reconsideration that illuminates the relationships between grandfather, father, and grandson while pointing to new definitions of bravery and familial loyalty.

"Stealing the Ambassador" is a stunning debut from the young Sameer Parekh. In depicting the ways that familiesare at the source of both our frustration with and our loyalty to identity, Parekh sheds new light on the immigrant experience and on the complexity and power of family relations.

Genres: Fiction, India

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! Picked it up in my local library and I didn't expect to like it this much. But it quickly became my favourite book. I really adore the writing style, though not for everyone. It felt deeply meditative to me. Also love when a character haunts the narrative!

[Andlandm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read, very good novel of son, father, and grandfather from India. Well written, and the scenes in India seem very true to me from what I have heard. Shows the cultural issues with adapting or not to a new country.

[Kathy Mitson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. Was never able to get into the book, or the story.
Hope others can enjoy it more than I did.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book that cycles between three story-lines:

1. A young Indian-American's visit to his grandparents in India
2. The same man's American upbringing
3. Letters that his father sent to family in India after he moved to the U.S.

In a way, this is a book about three men: a grandfather who is thoroughly Indian and has an extremely unbending personality; a grandson who is American, but grows up with enough of a grounding in Indian culture to feel a pull; and a father who is enthusiastic about the country he adopted.

Some of the review blurbs in the book compare it to Jhumpa Lahiri's work, which is fair (although Parekh's representation of American Guys resonated a bit more with me).

Recommended for people who are interested in bridge generations, who are curious about Indians in America (or possibly who *are* Indians in America, although I'm not one, so I can't judge), and who enjoy good writing.

[Ayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be an interesting account of the emigration of Indians to America. How one family felt about the cultural and societal difference experienced between Americans and Indians. And how the author felt it pertained to him/ though it is a fictional account. Stealing the Ambassador was how the narrator could make a connection to his grandfather , it was a way to bridge the gap he felt.

[Janelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping this would be great, it is compared to other books I've truly loved. But the writing was so-so, as was the storyline. I never really felt the hero's struggle was convincing, the plot jumps from place to time to person, the book was mediocre.

[The Tick · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing style was actually very nice, but the story was hard to follow because it jumped around so much. It took forever to get to the point, and when it actually got there it turned out that there wasn't really much of a point at all.

[Amy Cotterman]

A young man's journey back to India from America it is a book of a first generation discovering the culture of his parents. Hanging out with his Grandfather, the boy's beliefs of Indian culture and his own family are forever changed.

[Rimma · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I thought that Jhumpa Lahiri did this type of immigrant story better, but the story and the style grew on me.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to the Indian-American experience, very well-written.