Book cover of Netherland

Book description

In early 2006, Chuck Ramkissoon is found dead at the bottom of a New York canal.

In London, a Dutch banker named Hans van den Broek hears the news, and remembers his unlikely friendship with Chuck and the off-kilter New York in which it flourished: the New York of 9/11,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Netherland as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love cricket with a passion—having lived half my life in England and South East Asia. Thus, the setting of this novel captivated me immediately: a cricket league in Brooklyn where immigrants from across the world gather every weekend.

I loved how that simple premise becomes a lens for exploring friendship, identity, and belonging in a multicultural city. As the characters meet on the cricket field, their lives intersect in surprising ways.

The novel reminded me that communities often emerge through small shared rituals—games, conversations, and gatherings that bring together people from very different histories.

From Gail's list on the American mosaic.

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