DUALITY by Ica IovaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Duality is a very revealing novel about the cultural differences between Romania under President Ceausescu and Canada during the 1980s. The major part of the novel is about the pressures experienced by an immigrant family in their attempts to adapt to their new life after escaping through Yugoslavia in order to move to Canada. The story is told through the difficulties encountered by the families of Diana and Paul, and Lili and Alex. They must cope with learning a new language, their children’s schooling, finding decent jobs and somewhere to live that suits their aspirations and previous life in Romania. Meanwhile there are prejudice, jealousy and social influences that affect their children. The writing was very good with many bouts of introspection from Diana and Lili that allowed the reader to share some of the heart break and emotions suffered by them. The dialogue was realistic and I could sympathise with each of the main characters. Their trials and tribulations over several years are covered very well; but my only criticism was about last couple of chapters when there is an overlong harangue about the US government, and when there seemed to be some explanation missing during Diana’s violent encounter with Liana.
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