Books I Read in 2020

Uncanny Valley – Anna Wiener

Uncanny Valley is a memoir of a 20-something college graduate who leaves her job at a New York literary agency and heads to Silicon Valley to work in the buzzing tech industry. Wiener details her initial fascination, the lure of opportunity and optimism, and eventual disillusionment with the industry. She describes how technology came to pervade all parts of her life, as she spent many of her waking hours scrolling and on “the social network that everyone hated.”

This is a peek at Silicon Valley from an outsider’s perspective – as told from someone with a non-technical background (Wiener’s roles are in customer support – first at a data analytics startup, and then later at GitHub). She offers an insider’s account into the startup world – toxic cultures, masculinity, successes and failure, and a carefully observed account of San Francisco life – the “robust amenities and club culture” of the startup she worked at, where individualized work schedules and remote working was favoured by many. This was an entertaining and eye-opening book, at its core about a quest for meaning and fulfillment in one’s work.

The Lying Life of Adults – Elena Ferrante

As I was enamoured by Ferrante’s previous work, I was so looking forward to the release of The Lying Life of Adults, the author’s first novel in five years. I must admit it was a bit slow to start, but I eventually got into it more.

Giovanna, the 12-year-old daughter of two well-mannered, middle-class Neapolitan academics, is growing up. It begins when she overhears her father telling her mother that Giovanna is “getting the face of Vittoria,” his estranged sister, in whom “ugliness and spite were combined to perfection.” Giovanna decides to go on a quest to seek out her mysterious aunt.

Like my beloved Neapolitan novels, The Lying Life of Adults depicts two Naples: the refined city of her parents and the poverty-stricken, working class neighbourhood where her aunt lives, and where her father grew up. In this coming-of-age story, Giovanna moves between the two.

This emphasizes Ferrante’s ability to successfully chronicle the trials and tribulations of adolescence – capturing the inner workings of a young girl’s mind. I don’t think it can top the Neapolitan novels, perhaps some of my favourite books of all-time, but it was a well-written and impressive piece of work.

The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett

In this multi-generational family saga, Bennett explores racial identity, belonging, motherhood and the powerful bonds of sisterhood. The novel follows twin sisters Desiree and Stella Vignes, who were raised in Mallard, Louisiana, a town comprised of light-skinned black people. As teenagers they escape to New Orleans, where “after a year, the twins scattered, their lives splitting as evenly as their shared egg. Stella became white and Desiree married the darkest man she could find.”

The story then follows the twins’ own daughters throughout the 1990s, whose storylines intersect. Over the decades, readers see how the choices of Stella and Desiree affect the people around them, from their daughters, to the men in their lives. This is a great read that highlights how intertwined family remains even when apart, featuring compelling and expertly crafted characters.

American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins

Few novels I have read in recent years have gripped me from the first page, and sustained my full attention throughout. But not this one – I devoured this book. Then again, I have an interest in drama and drug cartels, and was a big fan of Breaking Bad and Narcos. The novel centers on Lydia Quixano Pérez, a Mexican bookseller who flees from her hometown of Acapulco with her young son, after 16 of her family members are killed by members of a drug cartel, in a brutal act of violence. Their journey to the United States takes them on La Bestia, a treacherous freight train boarded by migrants. Although heralded by Oprah and many other literary masters, there has been criticism that Cummins exploits the suffering of Mexican immigrants and resorts to stereotypes. Yet it important to remember that it is fiction. All around, it is simply a good story, one that is fast-paced, suspenseful, exciting and very hard to put down.