The Konkans

Francisco D'Sai is the firstborn son of a firstborn son - the latest in a long line of proud Konkans stretching back for centuries. Since he was old enough to hear the tales of his noble forebears, Francisco has known what it meant to be a Konkan in India. But what does it mean to be a Konkan in Illinois? His father, desperate to shed his past and fit in, drinks a lot and speaks very little, while his pony-tailed all-American mother remains as bewitched by India as when she first met her husband there. And then uncle Sam arrives from Chikmagalur, bringing with him all the dust and chaos of his homeland, along with enough stories to dazzle Francisco and enough charm to seduce his mother . . . Taking us from a small village on the Indian coast to the suburbs of Chicago, The Konkans is the exuberant portrait of one uprooted family, chasing the immigrant dream and creating their own family legends along the way.