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ournalist and short-story writer Maggie Tiojakin crafts her first novel featuring an Indonesian young man who writes his own version of American dream.

Sharing the title of a F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, Winter Dreams is a coming-of-age tale surrounding Nicky Rompa, whose life is torn apart by an abusive father and his parents’ divorce. Finding it hard to accept his mother’s marriage to a new man while constantly in danger when living with his father, he is forced to quit his studies and live with his aunt’s family in Boston.

The young man, in his early 20s, finds a new home surrounded by new friends, while striving to understand his own identity.

The city and a clandestine love encourage him to take life as more than mere survival. Despite working semi-skilled jobs as an illegal immigrant, he dares to dream of becoming a writer.

Tiojakin unleashes her forte in narrative with a strong twist about bitter-sweet expectations of love and a new home among immigrants.

Although Nicky manages to have steady jobs and a social life, Tiojakin eloquently narrates his injured pride when he faces Natalie Black, the girlfriend of his roommate Dev Akhtar, whom he secretly loves. Dev is a real estate executive and the son of an established immigrant family from Pakistan.

The writer describes Nicky’s feelings to Natalie through his gestures as well as their casual hang-out sessions and conversations.

It is also apparent that the constant affection from Dev, who never mind the blurred background of his roomate and addresses him affectionately but incorrectly as “Nicholas”, sees Nicky never announcing, nor directly showing, his love to Natalie.

Feeling more foreign after the couple’s engagement, Nicky moves to a new apartment and indulges in a romance with Mexican immigrant Esmeralda de Luca Gracia, who is 10 years older.

There are also conjunctures that force him into a dilemma: to return home or keep on with his less-than-perfect life in the city.

The book comes with a fresh view of young Indonesians living abroad amid the blossoming genre of overseas students’ adventures, which includes Andrea Hirata’s Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Troops) and Anwar Fuadi’s Negeri 5 Menara (The Land of 5 Towers ) and Negeri Van Oranje.

Inspired by the authors’ own experience, the books focus on grade-A students who leave Indonesia with high goals and the money in their pockets secured by scholarships. As a university drop-out, Nicky arrives in Boston without any plans in mind. He just seems to be lucky enough to have good friends and good jobs.

The biggest disappointment with the book is the language. Nurturing herself with English writing, Tiojakin fails to adopt Indonesian diction and expressions, making the book look like a translation of an English novel.

The struggle with the language may also bring cold and dry descriptions of events, places and characters - who stomp into the story, instead of gracefully flowing in within the narratives.

Tiojakin’s direct and staccato story-telling also makes the novel less poetic and sees Nicky sounding like a spoilt 17-year-old boy, which brings one to wonder how he could ever charm women in the city.