You can find plenty of information about The Namesake (or just about any novel for that matter) in the literature-related databases that the library offers to cardholders. For example, Novelist has book discussion guides that include biographies of the authors, summaries of the books, questions for discussion, reviews of the book, and lists of similar novels (that part reminds me of what you see when you go to amazon.com, and they say "We have recommendations for you."). To use Novelist, go to www.nashualibrary.org and click on "iBrowse Databases."

Another database we offer is called Literature Resource Center. There I was able to find a couple of biographies of Jhumpa Lahiri and some literary criticism of her books (a lot more was available about her collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, than for The Namesake, however. Probably because Interpreter won the Pulitzer.) To use Literature Resource Center, go to www.nashualibrary.org and click on "iBrowse Databases."

(If you don't have a Nashua Public Library card, your own library's Web site may give you access to these databases, or similar ones. Go to your library's Web site and see what they offer.)

Lahiri's publisher, Houghton Mifflin, has a reader's guide to The Namesake that includes a link to a video of an interview with the author. In the interview she talks about parallels between her life and the lives of her characters. I'd be interested to hear whether watching this video gave you any additional insight about the novel. Just click on "Comments" below to answer.