All across the West, immigration is consistently named as one of the most pressing concerns of our time. Mass migration has transformed societies. Illegal migration has made a mockery of national citizenship. A populist backlash is upending our politics. And yet, artists and intellectuals have shied away from an honest reckoning with this. Migration is only ever portrayed positively, and the growing public discontent against it is framed as a nativist, racist or even fascist peril. Lionel Shriver’s new novel, A Better Life, dares to ask the forbidden question: what happens when migration isn’t entirely positive for the people on the receiving end?
