Sarah Thankam Matthews' debut novel, "All This Could be Different," (All This) is a Bildungsroman literary novel. Sneha is a college co-ed embarking on her first career post graduation. Born in India, Sneha came to the US with her parents as a teen. Legal problems coerced her parents to return to India. Sneha, remains in the states to complete her education at UW-Madison. Sneha has maintained several signficant secrets from her parents; her sexual orientation and the abuse inflicted for years by her mother's brother. All This fits into the LGBTQ genre and first-generation immigrant experience. Tropes of loneliness, heartbreak and acceptance are all expertly traversed. Coincidentally, the logistics mirror my roots as a college student attending Madison and living in Milwaukee. The pan quotidian of life for a millennial maneuvering a new city, having to manage ones' finances, difficulties with landlords and bosses, and finding friends and lovers are described ingeniously. So too are the descriptions of characters and chilling details of frigid WI weather to make Sneha's saga into a compelling, page turning read. The bonds of friendship which linger and flourish from childhood and college that gel in one's lifetime into more meaningful relationships are built with warmth and naturally solidify into unbreakable bonds. Sneha's attractions and despair are relatable and heartfelt. There doesn't seem to be a false note in Matthews' adept writing which invites us to share Sneha's keen, range of emotions. Her gay friend Tig, referred to as "they," is the first person Sneha meets in Milwaukee. They met on on a dating site. When their attraction is deemed non-sexual, Sneha and Tig elect to become friends which blossoms into one of her most meaningful, longterm relationships. A former college classmate at UW-Madison, Thom becomes a co-worker and another significant player in Sneha's life. Marina, a professional, modern dancer is Sneha's main love interest. All these characters are elucidated with backgrounds without any one outweighing the other in import. Late in the novel, Tig is pulled over in a traffic stop by police. Sneha and Thom are passengers in the car. This all too frequent, dehumanizing stop echoes loudly the sentiment, all this should be different now. The detritus discarded and determining what offers value in life is beautifully navigated. Matthews' debut novel heralds a new voice in contemporary writing.. Sneha's epiphany at the end leaves the reader cosseted in her resolve. "What nobody told me when I was a very young person was that obedience, fearful toeing of everyone, chasing every kind of safety, would not save you. What nobody told me growing up was that sometimes your friends do join your family, fusing care, irritation, loyalty, shared history and affectionate contempt into a tempered love, bright and daily as steel."
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