Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Spanning across 25 years, the story begins when newlyweds Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli emigrate to Cambridge, Mass., in 1968, where Ashima immediately gives birth to a son, Gogol. A pet name that becomes permanent when his formal name, traditionally bestowed by the maternal grandmother, is posted in a letter from India, but lost in transit. Ashoke becomes a professor of engineering, but Ashima has a harder time assimilating, unwilling to give up her ties to India.

There are several small scenes dealing with Gogol as a young child to a teen becoming ashamed of his Indian heritage and his unusual name. He sheds his embarrassing name as he moves on to college at Yale and graduate school at Columbia, legally changing it to Nikhil. In one of the most telling chapters, Gogol moves into the home of a family of wealthy Manhattan WASPs and is initiated into a lifestyle idealized in Ralph Lauren ads. After the death of Gogol's father interrupts this interlude, we see Gogol's attitude toward his mother and his culture change and he learns to embrace it. The story then move ahead a year, quickly moving Gogol into marriage, divorce and his role as a dutiful if a bit guilt-stricken son.

I liked this book more than I thought I would as it deals with so much guilt, taking one's family for granted and missed opportunities. Both Gogol and his mother evolve into better people because of life's struggles.

The book was made into a movie with the same name in 2006.