A GOOD AMERICAN by Alex George

I frequent the new book section in our local library.  I like to find "new" authors this way.  Most of the time, the authors have been around for years and sometimes decades, but I hadn't discovered them just yet.  In this case, Alex George is a new author.  A GOOD AMERICAN is his first foray into novel writing.  Mr. George is a Brit and a lawyer, practicing exactly where you would expect an Oxford educated lawyer to be:  Columbia, Missouri. 

After reading the synopsis of the novel on the front flap and the 2 sentence author bio on the back flap, I wasn't putting this one back on the shelf.  The story begins in the year 1904 all the way overseas in Hanover, Germany.  A young, unwed couple flee to America when the woman's mother discovers (to her dismay and disgust) she is to be a grandparent to a bastard child.  The couple's adventure begins when they find the ship they thought was sailing to New York is, instead, sailing to New Orleans.  With a change in their port of entry comes a change in plans.  In short, they end up in Central Missouri, just as my husband's ancestors did (some of whom also emigrated from Hanover).  Ergo, I had to read this one.

The novel follows this couple as their family expands and their children and grandchildren grow up in small town America.  All of the sadness and confusion as the family travails through life are portrayed in detail.  But, as life really is, not all is gloomy.  The family experiences moments of happiness and success to counter balance the professed bleakness of their lives.

For me, I especially enjoyed reading about small town Missouri.  Although I wasn't born into small town Missouri life, my husband and his parents were.  I spent a lot of time in the region where the fictional town of Beatrice, Missouri was created.  Even though this personal connection to the story made me pick this book to read, sharing A GOOD AMERICAN with you is for the story itself.  Following one immigrant couple and their family as life happens to them, could take place anywhere in the United States.  The struggles and the triumphs are common, but Mr. George presents the story in a distinctive fashion.  He has lived here in the U.S. only since 2003 and yet is still able to render a uniquely American story. 

For more information on A GOOD AMERICAN and Alex George, visit Alex George.