Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald

New American Library
A Division of Penguin Group
ISBN-10: 9780451232144
ISBN-13: 978-0451232144

Last month I read Veil of Roses as my Just For Fun book.  This is the sequel to that book.

Tamila (Tami) Soroush had come to visit her sister, Maryam, in Arizona, from Iran on a three month visitor visa.  Her parents, her sister, and Tami all hoped she would find a wonderful man to marry so that she could stay in America.  

Dreaming in America picks up right where Veil of Roses ends. Tami and her husband have to deal with the consequences of their rushed Vegas wedding.  The groom's family believes Tami is just using their son to stay in the States.  She is still very unfamiliar with most American ways including American slang and cell phone text language.  She needs to build the confidence in herself to handle the wonderful new life ahead of her. She is also facing the very important Immigration Interview.  Just because she married an American does not automatically mean she gets to stay here. Many roadblocks could send her back to Iran. 

While happy to be in America with her sister Tami misses her parents back in Iran very much and dreams of the day they will all be together again.  As Tami continues to learn more about her new country she also learns the secrets her own family has kept from her for years.  She is going to have to fight hard to make all her dreams come true.

I loved both of these books.  When I read Veil of Roses I already knew there was a sequel, and while I was looking forward to see how Tami Joon's life played out, the ending of Veil left my mind to imagine her future.  Dreaming in English is not what I had imagined but was wonderful just the same.

The trials and tribulations faced by Tami and Ike had me feeling a bunch of emotions as they struggled to find their way to build a life together.  Tami's friend Eva adds some much needed comic relief to the obstacles that kept popping up for the couple.  It was Tami's text posts during an argument with Ike that really made me smile and I like Tami's interpretation better than the real life meaning of "LOL".

For me Tami's story put a face on the way of life of the women in Iran and truly made me appreciate the freedom we have in America. I fell in love with Tami immediately, her parents sent her to America to "wake up her luck" and she did. 

I did sympathize with Ike's family because they didn't know the history behind the relationship and if my son handled things the way Ike did I may have reached the same conclusion.  But behind it all this was a true love story.  As the reader we could see this build in a way the characters of the book could not.  

I am enchanted by the author's way of writing this story.  Her husband is of Iranian descent so she had an excellent resource to draw from for this story. It is a story that will captivate you from beginning to end.  While written as a sequel I think both of these books can be read as stand alone but I am glad I read both to enjoy the whole touching story.

To find out more about Laura and her novels check out her web page.  She is a native of my home state of Wisconsin and am thrilled that she is the first Wisconsin author featured here at Dollycas's Thought in 2011.  Laura is also the creator of NATIONAL GIVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND A BOOK DAY which is June 15th.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from New American Library, A Division of Penguin Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”