In Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy, the poet emerges from Hell with his guide, Virgil, and experiences something akin to a sailor seeing land for the first time in months.

We climbed up, he first and I second, so far that through a round opening I saw some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears; and thence we issued forth to see again the stars.

In New York-based author Dinaw Mengestu's debut novel, which takes its name from that line in "Inferno," those emotions are familiar to the protagonist, a poor shopkeeper named Sepha Stephanos. Born in Ethiopia, Stephanos flees to the U.S. after his wealthy father is beaten and arrested by soldiers during the Ethiopian Revolution. Leaving behind his mother and brother, he moves to Washington D.C., only to discover that America is not that light at the end of the tunnel, but maybe just a phosphorus glow.

Using a government loan, Stephanos opens a grocery store in pre-gentrified Logan's Circle and spends his days playing games of "name that dictator" with two fellow African immigrants, Kenneth from Kenya and Joseph from the Congo. In these three characters, we see dreams deferred. Joseph doesn't see himself moving past his job as a waiter at a high-end restaurant. Kenneth, an engineer, has found limited success, but has a hard time gaining the respect he deserves. And Stephanos' plan to eventually turn his small shop into a full-fledged restaurant goes only as far as purchasing a new deli counter, which ends up gathering dust.

Then there is the changing face of Stephanos' neighborhood. Mostly poor and predominately black, the arrival of affluent white neighbors brings tension as well as despair for Stephanos as he watches his business decline. But it's gentrification that also brings beauty and friendship into his life, as a white woman named Judith and her biracial daughter Naomi move into the house next to his apartment building. While Stephanos has gone to lengths to abandon his Ethiopian heritage, the confused culture of America has left him emotionally isolated, and Judith and Naomi soon become the closest thing he has had to a family in years. But how long can that last in a neighborhood that is just as confused about its identity as Stephanos is?

With The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, Mengestu, a Georgetown graduate whose family immigrated to the U.S. during the Ethiopian Revolution, has presented a story that at times is heart-breaking, hilarious and sweet. He details Washington, D.C.'s past and present as seen through the eyes of his characters with loving care as well as unflinching honesty. While the book touches upon many issues, not in the least racism and the effects of gentrification, its most prominent themes are revealed in its literary references to Dante and even Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, which examined American life and politics in the 1800s. The words "family" and "country" might mean different things to different people, but the desire to belong and to hold onto the beautiful things in life is universal.

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu is available through Riverhead Hardcover for $22.95. The photo on the cover is a picture taken by DCist contributor Ohad Ben-Yoseph.