The English American by Alison Larkin

I came across this book while I was doing front list (putting new books away) this week at the bookstore. First, the book jacket caught my eye, then the title. I put one aside for myself because it is Larkin's first novel, and I love to read an authors' first. Then an hour or so later a customer requested it, and raved about an interview she'd heard with Larkin on NPR.

This is a very good book; immensely readable and enjoyable. It is semi-autobiographical, both the author and our heroine, Pippa, were given up by American birth parents and raised by English parents. The English American is a comedic but heartfelt look at issues of identity, heredity and self-acceptance. I really did laugh and cry as I read it. Plus there's the bonus of a love story, or two or three woven in. The stories of her parents, both sets, are wonderfully done, and Pip's final love is all a girl could ask for.