The Journal of Djuna Malik by a racist man who lived down the street. Mourning her are her much older sister, Nisha, who raised her after their parents were killed in a terrorist attack in Mumbai, and her Lit professor, Liam McFadden, who feels she’s a talented writer and shows her class writings to Nisha after toying with the idea of plagiarizing them as material for his own novel. Liam and Nisha bond over Djuna’s journal and begin an affair. Nisha tells her own story to Liam, which includes her rape by an American youth in India, which led to further tragedy when her vengeful Indian lover at Harvard accidentally blew up himself, his brother, and uncle, with a bomb intended for Nisha’s attacker. She also ruminates on her tense marriage with Michael, a depressed white man with lots of guns and seething resentments. Meanwhile, Liam is wrestling with his own past growing up in Ireland. His father, a famous novelist, was so enraged that Liam’s mother published her own novel that she never finished another one, and he also plagiarized the work of Liam’s brother, Shamus, a talented and volatile poet. After he dropped dead of a heart attack during an argument with Shamus, more tragedy followed. Throughout, Nisha and Liam ponder the dead, while Nisha untangles yet more fraught relationships with Felicity, a friend and also the mother of Djuna’s killer, and Jamie, a troubled friend of Djuna’s.Wieland’s novel works with big themes, including the experience of Indian immigrants eager to pursue the American dream but subject to racist affronts from microaggressions to homicide, and the problems of the story’s many angry men, with a first\u002Dterm Donald Trump being a distant, presiding spirit who haunts the characters’ anxieties. It’s also an atmospheric portrait of the modern university, capturing the classroom torpor, the energetic zeal of its protest culture, the flurry of squabbling and empty\u002Dnest sorrow that surrounds Nisha’s relationship with Djuna as she leaves home, and the central role that prestigious degrees play in shaping the identity and self\u002Desteem of the professional classes. (Djuna is distraught when her dream colleges reject her and she must settle for Chapel Hill, still one of the best schools in the country.) These are big themes, and Wieland explores them with psychological nuance and exactitude in prose that sometimes has a lyrical stillness and other times opens out into harsh, raw feeling (When tragedy strikes, Nisha’s “wailing afterwards was so loud and so long it seemed the sound came from the hospital building, out of the walls and floors, the drywall, the pipes, the wiring, the invisible Internet signal”). Wieland handles this sometimes unbearably dark material with evocative writing that packs an emotional wallop. " - Review & Purchase Guide | BookBookOwl

Name: The Journal of Djuna Malik
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 1604893990

Our Review

This compelling novel follows a young woman's journey of self-discovery through the intimate pages of her personal journal, capturing the raw emotions and pivotal moments of coming-of-age. Djuna's voice emerges with striking authenticity as she navigates complex family dynamics, first loves, and the universal search for identity during those transformative teenage years. The epistolary format creates an immediate connection between reader and protagonist, making every triumph and heartbreak feel deeply personal. Readers will find themselves completely immersed in Djuna's world as she grapples with questions about heritage, belonging, and finding her place in the world.

What sets this narrative apart is its honest portrayal of the messy, nonlinear process of growing up without resorting to clichés or easy resolutions. The writing balances poetic introspection with the awkward realities of adolescence, creating a protagonist who feels genuinely relatable rather than idealized. Teen readers navigating their own identity journeys will see themselves reflected in Djuna's struggles and triumphs, while parents will appreciate the thoughtful exploration of cultural identity and intergenerational understanding. This powerful story leaves a lasting impression about the courage it takes to write your own story.

The Journal of Djuna Malik

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