Debut novel ‘Behold the Dreamers’ wins PEN/Faulkner award

NEW YORK – A timely, and timeless, debut novel about immigration and the class divide has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.

Imbolo Mbue’s “Behold the Dreamers” was chosen from hundreds of submitted works, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced Tuesday. The novel tells of immigrants from Cameroon, Mbue’s native country, and their hopes and struggles to succeed in New York City.

Mbue will receive $15,000 in prize money. The four runners-up, including Louise Erdrich and Garth Greenwell, each will be given $5,000. Previous winners of the PEN/Faulkner Award include E.L. Doctorow, Ann Patchett and Sherman Alexie.