“How We Disappeared” by Jing-Jing Lee (Singapore) Synopsis Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked. Only three survivors remain, one of them a tiny child. In a neighbouring village, seventeen-year-old Wang Di is bundled into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military rape camp. In the year 2000, her mind is … Continue reading How We Disappeared
“No One Prayed Over Their Graves” by Khaled Khalifa (Syria) Synopsis December, 1907: one morning after a night of drunken carousing in the city, Hanna and his friend Zakariya return home to their village near Aleppo—only to discover a scene of tragedy. A devastating flood has levelled their homes, shops and places of worship, and their neighbours, families and children are nearly all dead. Their … Continue reading No One Prayed Over Their Graves
“Happiness” by Aminatta Forna (UK – London) Synopsis Waterloo Bridge, London. Two strangers collide. Attila, a Ghanaian psychiatrist, and Jean, an American studying the habits of urban foxes. From this chance encounter in the midst of the rush of a great city, numerous moments of connections span out and interweave, bringing disparate lives together. In this delicate yet powerful novel of loves lost and new, … Continue reading Happiness
“Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan (Ireland) Synopsis It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him — and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church. Review “Small Things … Continue reading Small Things Like These
“Beyond the Door of No Return” by David Diop (Senegal) Synopsis Paris, 1806. The renowned botanist Michel Adanson is dying. His last word is a woman’s name: Maram. But who was she? Searching for the answer, Adanson’s daughter discovers a journal of his youthful travels in Senegal, which tells a story of wild adventure and impossible desires. It reveals how he heard of a young … Continue reading Beyond the Door of No Return
“Claire of the Sea Light” by Edwidge Danticat (Haiti) Synopsis Claire goes missing the night her father agrees to give her up for adoption. Her mother died when she was born. In the tiny fishing town of Ville Rose, Haiti, she and her father are not the only ones to have experienced loss. As the poor townspeople search by moonlight for the seven-year-old girl, each … Continue reading Claire of the Sea Light
“A Long Petal of the Sea” by Isabel Allende (Chile) Synopsis Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile. When opportunity to seek … Continue reading A Long Petal of the Sea
“Happiness™” by Will Ferguson (Canada) Synopsis When one of those irritating self-help books actually gets it right, then unnatural and worrying times are just around the corner… While the rest of the country is joining the new Happiness™ cult, Edwin (the wiry, grey-suited, low-level editor at US publisher Panderic Press) is in trouble. A cartel of drug, alcohol, tobacco and drug-rehab bosses have a contract … Continue reading Happiness TM
