Vera, or Faith

"In Vera, or Faith, Gary Shteyngart’s most recent novel, the story of a credibly dystopian America of the near future is told through the eyes of a precocious, chess-playing 10-year-old girl. The book has Shteyngart’s usual combination of breezy writing, incisive wit and poignant cultural observations about American identity, masculinity, cultural snobbery and politics. At the heart of the novel is its eponymous heroine, Vera, who weaves her way through Manhattan in an attempt to find her Korean American birth mother and ultimately learns truths too complicated even for grown-ups. I loved this little book, which despite its bleak themes, leaves you with just the right amount of hope."