Short Story
The Paris of China
“I was my father’s son. My father was Nai Nai’s least favorite.” A Taiwanese American man, driven from home by a secret, reevaluates his childhood memories of his grandmother.
Her Face in the Darkness
“Closing her eyes, she pictured Abbie in the funeral home.” Grieving the death of her best friend, a young woman travels to Singapore to stay with an aunt she barely knows.
The Healing Song
“Never do unto me what your uncle has done to us.” A family member’s disappearance leads to personal revelations.
Warm Juice
“My mother has not slept for seven days.” A Taiwanese woman’s brother avoids calling their mother, setting off an insomniac unraveling.
The Baker’s Tale
“The Earth’s skin had become a million toads.” After a town undergoes a disturbing transformation, a boy finds a solitary companion.
Ensoulment
“The rising voices wanted to twist arms. The violence of their speech spread across her shoulders, inched down her backside.” A young woman struggles to have an abortion.
Skylarking
“Every time she noticed he was dressed for sport, she’d head for the door.” In this short story, a young Jamaican man weighs his responsibility to his family against his love of biking.
Our Theresa
“The something we had been waiting for had happened.” In this short story, the traces of a missing Nigerian woman haunt her neighbors, who struggle with how intensely they had disliked and envied her.
Dog Tiger Horse
“I could have been a clever girl. When the first of the Japanese bombs fell on Penang, my father stopped us from going to school. And when the war was over, there was no question of going back. So I married your father.” Three generations of a family struggle to maintain their way of life in a country changed irrevocably by war.
How It Was
“Aunt Steph got ugly after Gammy died, although people were often ugly to her first.” In this short story, a woman reflects on a series of charmed summers before loss descended.
Three Sisters
“Her sister was only visiting for as long as it took the mother to die.” A family reunion takes a surreal turn in this short story.
Loudspeaker
A woman, menaced late at night by catcalling men, tries a novel approach to self-defense. Translated from the Spanish by the author and Arthur M. Dixon.
Night Picnic
The last humans on a planet attempt a nice family outing—except that they can’t remember how. A short story from Japanese counterculture icon Izumi Suzuki, available for the first time in English in a new translation by Sam Bett.
Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel
“Come back, Sebastian. You are shaking. That is not a productive movement.” As Sebastian prepares to go work on the moon, he reviews his contract’s terms and conditions and wonders what his mother must think.
Apart
“I see it all. What you did, Papa. I’m not angry at you. Don’t worry.” A Moroccan woman living in exile in Paris remembers her father’s dying days. Translated from French by Emma Ramadan.
Alheri
“I want to open the door again. I want to bring him back. And I want him to last longer this time.” A grieving widow makes a man of mud.
How to Date a Hindu Fundamentalist
“I was perhaps judging him. His poor choice. The way he forsook the greater good for the pleasures of the bed, or something like that. I was sleepy. I wasn’t sure what I was thinking. Probably I was surprised by my bad luck.”
Another Way to Love This World
In a wrenching dialogue, a man searches for human connection, even as he recalls childhood abuse. Translated from the French by Amanda DeMarco.
Chapati Recipe
“Pinch off fist-sized balls and roll these into flat circles. Circles you turned in the morning of the coup.” Short Story
Meniscus
“'I felt no hunger but the habit of food struck me intensely. My nightgown was grubby and torn. My limbs were scraped, spotted with yellow bruises, but I felt no pain.” Short Story
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