“In the Country” by Mia Alvar – Into Worlds Unknown

A large number of us have the benefit of having a home we've lived in for years upon years... and I'm not referring to a house. I'm specifically referring to the concept of a homeland, of feeling at home in a country, a city, a neighbourhood.

For instance, many people living in the United States have been in the country for generations upon generations and don't intend on leaving anytime soon... after all, why would they if life goes well?

On the other hand, there are many other parts of the world where staying in one's homeland simply becomes impossible, whether it is due to economical, social, criminal or military situations. So many uprooted their lives to start anew elsewhere, some never finding that new, coveted home... such can be the immigrant experience at times.

Mia Alvar is someone who has lived through that, and she put her own life events to use in her first book, In the Country, a collection of short stories that review the immigrant experience through the fates of nine different immigrants around the globe.

Those stories include that of a Filipino nurse and journalist who find themselves smack-dab in the middle of political upheaval, a Filipina teacher in Bahrain who begins to question her marriage and a pharmacist smuggling drugs to his father, just to give you an example.

This is a book that gives us stories with a humanitarian character, describing the very real and trying challenges faced by those in search for a new home. They aren't exactly very thrilling, fast-paced or full of twists and turns... rather, focus on what the characters are going through internally, their fears, doubts and joys.

Thankfully, Alvar does a magnificent job at a characterization, ensuring that each and every face feels unique and different from the last, yet relatable and enjoyable in some ways. We begin to care about them rather quickly, and ultimately, come to see them as poor yet brave souls who trudge onwards through life, making the best of what they have, just like everyone else.

As far as a book that chronicles the immigrant experience and the search for a new home, I have to admit that it is one of the more captivating and moving books I have read on the subject.

We feel the loss endured by the characters, their nostalgia and sadness when thinking of the lives they abandoned, their sense of resolve when faced with the unknown, and their everlasting internal struggle to find an identity and place for themselves in this vast world.

To a certain extent, it felt like this book was also about reaching out a hand of understanding to those who have had to go through something similar, to say that they aren't alone, and that there are always ways to move forward.

All in all, In the Country is an excellent work of literature, especially for a first book. The stories are good at drawing your attention while the characters are fantastic at keeping it until the end.

If this book won't make you think, at the very least it will make you feel for those who have to go through all those things. This is definitely a read I recommend to anyone who doesn't shy away from something that is slower-paced and focuses on the real world.

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Mia Alvar Personal site Mia Alvar is a writer born in Philippines and raised in Bahrain and the United States, and is a former Writer-in-Residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and has recently published her first book, a collection of short stories titled In the Country, which earned her two nominations for the Puschart Prize.