Title: A Dog in Georgia
Author: Lauren Grodstein
Year Published: 2025
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Setting: Tbilisi, Georgia
My Rating: 
A Dog in Georgia: An Overview
Amy is feeling a bit lost in life. After the discovery that her husband may be cheating on her (again) sends her over the edge, she impulsively decides to fly to Georgia and search for a lost dog she watches on the internet–and her life’s purpose.
Once in Georgia, she finds herself surrounded by more questions than answers. There are the complex dynamics of her host family, the complicated politics of the country, and the nagging questions of what does she want with her life, and what will she do when she gets home? She quickly realizes that Georgia is nothing like New York City and that finding Angel, the missing dog, may be more difficult than she initially thought…
My Thoughts
I wanted to read this book because I’ve never read a book set in Georgia. Back when I was studying diplomacy, the country appeared often in our case studies and readings, so I was familiar with its politics from that angle, albeit rustily so. From that point of view, the book delivered. On the character and plot side, there was some that I personally didn’t connect with, but also a lot that made me reflect.
Expectations and the Cultural Aspect
If you want to learn about Georgian politics, A Dog in Georgia is a great way to do so without being overwhelmed. It was very clear that the author went there and did her due diligence. The novel features several facets of Georgian culture, especially regarding language and food. Although it veered into “telling, not showing” territory quite often, you could feel the author’s enthusiasm for telling this story. The political and cultural background was certainly necessary to the plot. I just wished at times that it had been woven in a little more organically.
However, I think the real reason for this desire was the fact that the book was different than what I was expecting. The blurb reads much more like a person and dog-centered self-discovery journey. Don’t get me wrong–it was. There were just a lot more foreign politics involved and a lot less focus on the actual search for the dog.
Which, fine, I get it, it’s all a metaphor and it’s part of the journey. But the vibe of the back cover didn’t match the contents. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I just think it’s important to note if you think it’s going to be a warm and fuzzy type of story. There’s more teeth to A Dog in Georgia.
Amy’s Character
As much as I loved the setting and the obvious passion the author had for spotlighting this country, I wasn’t able to appreciate her main character as much. It may have been due to the premise of the book, in all fairness: middle-aged divorcee (or unhappy wife) makes a dramatic, impulsive change in her life, meets people completely different from herself, gains perspective, makes a change. And yes, technically pretty much every story has some version of the Hero’s Journey, but this particular brand has started to feel a bit tired. If I’d read this book before all of the Eat, Pray, Love and other divorced-mom fiction of the last fifteen years, I probably would have found it much fresher.
That aside, I wasn’t able to find Amy to be a super sympathetic character. She’s tired and feels lost–this much makes sense, because she’s constantly giving to other people and not prioritizing herself. Yet this passiveness continues throughout the book, and I didn’t feel that she grew enough by the end to make it satisfying. She definitely learned a lot more–that’s for sure. Her eyes were opened to the world, however slowly. But that may have been what made A Dog in Georgia a bit of a difficult read at times.
Amy’s Naivete and What It Says
Time and time again, Amy proves that she has absolutely zero idea how the world works outside of her bubble in New York City. At first, this was incredibly frustrating. By the end, her cluelessness was borderline surprising and painful, and some of the questions she asks and the situations she gets herself into had me screaming inside.
I’ll give two examples. In the first one, she flies a drone to look for the dog, and then gets into a confrontation with a cop and is prepared to bribe him. Luckily, she’s rescued by a nice British man who explains that A) you can’t have drones in Georgia, and B) you can’t bribe a cop.
In the second situation, there are protests, and she’s reflecting on her own experiences. For her, taking part in protests (i.e., the Women’s March in 2017) was more of a fun, social activity where there was some principle behind it, but it wasn’t dangerous or substantial in any way–unlike the protests happening in the book. She then proceeds to ask a Russian refugee if he ever protested at home about the war in Ukraine. You don’t have to be a foreign policy nerd or intercultural relations major to facepalm at that.
A Reflection on the “Bubble” Culture
This cluelessness went beyond naivete, and while it frustrated me at first, it also really made me think. As an American living abroad, I do get to see both the country and the people from both perspectives. We certainly don’t have the best reputation abroad, which is completely deserved at times and unfair at others. Amy, with her complete lack of awareness and her life shielded from real struggle, almost seemed like a caricature for how we’re often seen.
Yet then I realized that I have met several “Amys” even within the US. They can’t imagine that other people live a life different from their own, whether that’s in a different country or a different zip code. Their protests, posts, and defiant behavior are performative or uninformed at times. Even if well-intentioned, there’s a relative thoughtlessness to their actions and mindset. They are trapped by their own bubbles, whether physical or virtual (i.e., social media algorithms). We all have assumptions and room to learn in life, but I have noticed this echo chamber/bubble culture more and more lately, as well as the social effect it is having.
By contrast, many of the Americans I’ve met who have spent significant time abroad, have moved around within the US, or have made a real effort to learn from and interact with people different than themselves have been some of the most grounded and self-aware people I’ve ever seen. They understand that they don’t know everything, approach situations with curiosity and understanding, and are more willing to pop the bubble, so to speak. I do believe that Amy was getting there by the end of A Dog in Georgia.
That’s part of why I think it’s so important to branch out and learn more about other places, languages, and cultures, even if you don’t have the means to travel or study abroad. When you’ve only ever known one thing your whole life, it’s a lot easier to fall into the trap of being an Amy, even if you have the best of intentions. This book was an interesting reflection on and reminder of that. As much as Amy was frustrating as a character, she was interesting to think about from this perspective.
The Plot
As far as plot goes, A Dog in Georgia was predictable, but it also wasn’t the focus. The emphasis was definitely on the politics and Amy’s realization that the world is not like NYC. Her interactions with the host family (a rebellious teenager, a more conservative mother, three grandmothers, and a Russian refugee) are interesting, but as I said before, I wouldn’t expect the warm, fuzzy feeling. That’s quite simply not the tone of the book.
A Final Word
If you’re reading for novelty, you’ll probably only find that in the setting. If you want something that explores a less-shown culture and its complexities through a women’s fiction lens, however, this could be a good book for you.
Have you read A Dog in Georgia? What did you think?
