It's not often that I go into a book not really knowing anything about the story or the author. Such was the case with The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger, though. For some reason I was expecting more of a women's commercial read. Perhaps it was too many books from my past coming to weigh on my judgment, or, it may have been the frame of mind I was in -- having just gotten married myself and being extremely happy, I was expecting more of the fairy-tale story we read in other books.

While I didn't get the story I was expecting, I did get a beautifully written, rich, layered, and sometimes-funny novel. The newlyweds in this story, George and Amina, face the same challenges many couples do: learning to live together, trying to navigate different communication styles, appreciating each other's wants and desires, facing the families as a united front, and agreeing on the right time to have children.

What makes George and Amina's marriage different than what many of us have experienced, however, is how it came to be. They met on an online site: George in Rochester, New York; Amina in Dhaka, Bangladesh. After a months-long courtship via e-mail, George flew to Bangladesh, where he and Amina spent days getting to know each other, culminating in an engagement.

The majority of The Newlyweds explores their relationship after this meeting. Amina's move to Rochester isn't quite the fairy tale she had hoped for. Besides just the shock of moving from Bangladesh to the U.S., she must learn to become comfortable with who she is. The novel is rich with what it means to navigate these differences and difficulties: religion, politics, expectations, secrets, language, family.

The author's inspiration for this tale was born from a true story. While traveling in Asia, she met a woman who was on her way to an internet-facilitated marriage in the U.S. Now a friend of the author, the woman granted permission for her life to be used for fiction.

Freudenberger has been named a New Yorker "20 under 40," won numerous awards, and had two previous books named New York Times Book Review "Notables." Her new tale of romance and relationships in the modern age only proves she is a writer to pay attention to.