For fans of Petina Gappah’s An Elegy for Easterly and Jamil Jan Kochai’s The Haunting of Hajji Hotak comes an illuminating collection about lives in flux…
An outcast girl’s friendship with a bloat of hippos is questioned when it’s found that she is pregnant. A half-blind boy is ridiculed and bullied relentlessly, until one day it reaches a breaking point. A disturbed man, haunted by visions of the dead, is convinced he must relocate hit mother’s grave. A woman takes up a lucrative job in a greedy corporation to fulfil her daughter’s dreams, but a ghastly discovery threatens to disrupt the life they’ve built. A dog’s loyalty is tested as a civil war brings out the worst in those around her.
Written in lucid prose and engulfed in intense emotions, The Hippo Girl and Other Stories is a searingly honest collection about what it is to be human in a world where rage, violence, grief, and obsession are part of everyday life. Set in Bangladesh, each of these atmospheric stories digs deep and paints a complex and rich picture of people’s journey towards happiness.
