Mengestu's debut novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears is a work devoted to meaning on multiple levels -- existential, moral, and literal. Though not reported to be autobiographical, the book resembles Mengestu's own life experience as an Ethiopian immigrant to the States. He addresses concepts like racism, poverty, loneliness, and nostalgia in the novel.
Sepha is the protagonist, a recent immigrant from Ethiopia. He lives in Logan's Circle in Washington D.C. and owns a tiny convenience store there. Raised by a wise and hopelessly optimistic father, Sepha struggles to make his experiences in America align with the worldview he held while living in Ethiopia. Africa is not a wealthy continent, nor his homeland a stable or happy one, but Sepha misses it all the same. Hoping to encounter friendly faces and economic opportunity in America, he fast learns that the American Dream is a myth. His business isn't successful. His neighbors, for the most part, don't care to know him. And he has no prospects of improving his situation.
Despite his bleak situation, Sepha still clings to the optimism which his father instilled in him from a young age. He forms a sweet friendship with a neighbor child, Naomi, who wanders into his store. They read books together and just chat. In the child, he recognizes a romantic hopefulness which he himself possesses, but both are struggling to keep that flame alive. Sepha deliberately tries to encourage Naomi's natural disposition, teaching her to look past circumstance for higher ideals. Sepha himself, however, is struggling with existential pain, wondering if life has any meaning after all. Somehow his relationship with Naomi and her mother Judith start restoring some hope to the tired man.
