You Bring the Distant Near

The novel moves ahead to the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Chantal is in her third year of studying computer science at Columbia and lives with Anna and their grandmother in the Sens’ Manhattan apartment. She and Martin are taking a break from their relationship, although the Harvard student remains smitten with her, and she still likes him. Anna is applying to Cornell’s Fiber Science and Apparel Design program and dreams of founding an eco-friendly, fair-trade clothing company that employs women in Indian villages.

Ranee surprises her granddaughters by asking them to help her apply for American citizenship. Chantal eagerly agrees, but Anna declines because she wishes that her grandmother would retain her Indian citizenship. During Ranee’s swearing-in ceremony, Anna thinks, “America, America, America. Are there no other countries on the planet worth living in?” (269). The rest of the family treats the event as a joyous celebration, and Anna’s parents fly in from Mumbai for the occasion. A week after the swearing-in ceremony, Ranee astonishes her granddaughters by buying colorful new clothes and visiting a beauty salon. When she shows off her new look to Chantal and Anna, she tells them, “Now that I have an American passport, I thought it was time to look more American” (273).