I really loved this book, taking glimpses into the life of a lonely woman in an Italian town, and sharing her observations of the small things going on around her. The passage that appealed to me most strongly was the description of the stationer's shop. Such businesses have mostly disappeared from my native UK, but I was happy to rediscover the pleasure to be had in real old-fashioned shops of this kind in my adopted Spain, so every word spoke eloquently to me.

I will certainly be reading more of this author. I am in awe of writers who can write such faultless, seemingly effortless prose. The book is short but there are no wasted words so there is a whole world to enjoy, a whole world that many writers would need twice as many pages to convey.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for a review
i have to say that at first I wasn't sure what to make of the book but the writing somehow kept me engaged. It is beautifully written. A woman, we never know her name gives us multiple eclectic glimpses into her rather lonely life. Affected quite strongly by events in her childhood, some of which are revealed her life is rather dour. She can see beauty but it never seems to permeate her skin. It is rather depressing to read. There were times when I strongly empathised with her and I did feel that this kept me engaged with the book. There were other times when I felt decidedly distanced from her thoughts; that they were unremittingly sad and melancholic. Quite a short book and not hard to read. I would have preferred UK English to US English. I think I would have connected more. The words were creating pictures and I felt they should have been fully European ones. It's almost as if the language detached the woman from her words. If I could I would definitely read it in the original Italian
I couldn't quite make up my mind as to how many stars I was going to give this book as I was reading it. Now I've finished I think it's definitely 5 stars

In my opinion, Jumpha Lahiri is really good at writing short stories, even if they are all interconnected, but these short moments of a life, especially because (I like to think) they are set in Rome, are really photographic snapshots, one more beautiful than the other.

Secondo me Jumpha Lahiri é veramente bravissima a scrivere brevi storie, anche tutte collegate fra loro, ma questi brevi momenti di una vita, specialmente (mi piace pensare ) ambientati a Roma, sono proprio delle istantanee fotografiche, una piú bella dell'altra.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

This book is something else.

At points ethereal and at points heartbreaking.

The writing is as strong as it has ever been and is beautiful as we follow this unnamed and muster woman who shares her thoughts and feelings with us over the course of a year.

We learn of her complicated relationship with her parents, with her lovers and with the futures she didn’t want to the futures she wanted but didn’t end up having.

Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri consists of short chapters detailing the life of a nameless narrator, a woman who lives alone in Italy, and her interactions with and observations about the world and people around her.

Somewhere between 3-3.5

A slight but enjoyable novel in the vein of Outline and What Are You Going Through, with a female protagonist navigating life through her interactions and conversations with those around her.

Written in short vignettes, we follow our solitary protagonist in her daily life around an Italian city during a period of personal change. She reflects on her relationship with her parents and her own loneliness and solitude.

I found this to be a subtle, gentle read, and one which I expect would be more affecting if I was able to read in its original form (written in Italian).