A New Journey: A Beautiful, Heartwarming Tale on Transcending Cultural Differences

'A New Journey' is a charming fictionalized memoir of the author's experiences of moving from Chicago to teaching in a school in rural Kerala. This is a beautiful and realistic book offering a fresh and unique view of India through the eyes of a foreigner.

Overview:

Author: Samantha Kannan

Genre: Travel, General Fiction

My Ratings: 5/5★

Blurb:

Jurnee is a recent college graduate struggling desperately to find a job as a teacher. Discouraged, she happens upon a chance opportunity to teach in a village in southern India. Overcoming anxiety, self-doubt, and cultural differences, she finds a home in her new surroundings. See India from her eyes as she narrowly escapes an arranged marriage, learns where cashews come from, encounters a king cobra snake, and finds love in the most unexpected of places.

Come along with Jurnee as she learns about herself and about a whole new world. Based on the author’s real experiences, you’re sure to be on the edge of your seat.

I have been following the author Samantha Kannan for quite some time on Quora and always enjoyed reading her answers where she shares her unique experiences and her takes on life. So when I saw that she's writing a book, I was very excited. With every step to publishing that she shared, from getting back from her editors to designing the cover, I felt my excitement mounting. When I finally read the book, I felt the wait was worth it. This was a beautiful, heartfelt tale of a girl from Chicago who bravely took the plunge to teach in a foreign setting full of unfamiliar faces and strange customs and slowly fell in love with the country. This book is an ideal read: it is short, crisp, easy to read with simple sentences and an extremely enthralling story. The writing brings the scenes alive; when she describes the beautiful 'God's Own Country', you feel transported to the breathtaking land and travel with her as she experiences "Athithi Devo Bhava", traffic and other quirky, individualistic traits that make India, India. It was particularly heartwarming to see my country from the eyes of a foreigner (not so foreign to our country now, she's been here 9 times!) and see how warmly she was received. Some scenes made me chuckle, others made me smile and this short tale managed to make me filled with a lasting warmth within the short time it took me to relish the experience offered.

This book lets you enjoy an amazing travel right from the comfort of your armchair (a much-needed factor in these crazy times!) I urge you to pick up this book and dive into a beautiful tale of transcending cultural differences and enjoying them.

There is a sequel releasing soon, and I'm psyched to catch it as well!

---

This was an amazing start to my September and I hope to read more stunning novels that makes me want to devour them as fast as I can like this one made me to.

~Reviewed by Kaveri (@bibliophilerants) ~

(Connect with me on Goodreads and Instagram! )