Behold the dreamers is a novel by the author Imbolo Mbue. This book talks about many issues of today's society like immigration and the struggle to make income as well as come family issues. The book focuses on two families, the Jongas which are immigrants from Cameroon and the Edwards which are a white rich family. Jende Jonga is the husband of Neni Jonga, they struggle to settle and make ends meet. He starts working as a cab driver. Clark Edwards is wealthy investment banker at Lenhman brothers. He is married to Cindy Edwards and is a father of two.
Their luck changes when Jende Jonga starts driving for the Edwards family. It’s a better paying job and they start to see what this family is really about. Since Jende is always driving for them, he can hear everything they talk about, he then understands that they are unhappy. They all have secrets towards one another and worries about work and the company. Cindy is stress, she believes she is not enough for her husband so she leans towards alcohol to drown her pain.
Both families start to get each other better and the secrets start to get discovered. At the beginning only Jende works with the Edwards but after a while Neni starts working with them while their maid Anna goes on vacation. She then discovers Cindy's addiction to alcohol and painkillers. Both sides of the story (both families) go through different challenges, the Jongas are struggling in regards to their immigration status since Jende has been denied his legal status to stay in this country.
A series of events happen in where the Jongas stop working for the Edwards. Jendes request for asylum has been denied and he struggles a lot to find work. Because of all this he thinks the best decision for him and his family is to go back to Cameroon. Neni on the other hand isn’t okay with that decision, she doesn’t want to give up on her dream. In the other household (the Edwards house) Cindy has died do to alcohol, she was drunk and choked on her own vomit. When this happens Jende and Clark meet for one last time, Clark is planning on moving to Virginia to be closer to their family.
The book ends in Clark leaving to Virginia and the Jongas going back to their home country, and trying to start their new life over there after being in New York for five years. This book is a good demonstration of the difference between socioeconomic families, as well as giving a look into what immigrant families have to go through. It shows how the families struggle financially, but it also shows how the Edwards struggle because of all the money they do have.
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