In the parlance of our grandparents, Naomi is “a pistol”. The large Victorian house next to Stephanos’s building is renovated by a professor, Judith, who takes up residence with her 11 year old daughter, Naomi. The neighborhood is starting to undergo gentrification and this provides the catalyst for much of what happens. They often play a game of charting the ever changing dictators in Africa, using an outdated map. He has 2 friends, who are also immigrants Kenneth from Kenya, who is an engineer and Joseph from the Congo, who is a waiter at a fancy restaurant. near where he lives in a run down apartment building. The first person narrator is Sepha Stephanos, who fled Ethiopia after a revolution and eventually opened a corner grocery store in a blighted neighborhood in Washington D.C. At first glance, it appears to be about ordinary people doing everyday activities and it is that, but their backgrounds and inner lives is what adds multiple layers and meanings. Now that I’ve finished it, there seems to be too much to say and that I won’t do it justice. The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestuīefore reading this novel, I wasn’t sure if I’d find enough to write about.
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