Let's discuss BEHOLD THE DREAMERS by Imbolo Mbue

Named on various lists as one of the best books of the year, winner of the PEN/Faulkner award and an Oprah Book Club pick, this novel addresses marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoor of the American dream through the compulsively readable story of Jende Jonga, his wife Neni, and their six-year-old son, Liomi.

At the beginning of the book, it's 2007 and Jende has arrived from Cameroon on a visitor's visa. After a stint working as a dishwasher, he lands a job as a driver for Clark Edwards, a wealthy executive working for the soon-to-be-doomed Lehman Brothers, and his family. On the strength of his prospects, Jende moves his family to New York City and seem to be on track for a green card and ultimately citizenship.

Still all is not well. His employer, although materially well off, has troubles of his own. Through overheard cell phone conversations, Jende begins to perceive serious fractures in the Edwards family.

As the story progresses, immigration proceedings don't go well, marriages falter, friendships fail, children stray, and Lehman goes bankrupt. Everyone's lives are upended in the crisis and Jende and Neni must make the best of an impossible choice.

This is the first book for this author who writes with precision and empathy and has "an uncanny ear for dialogue," as one reviewer put it.