It is a collection of short stories, primarily American in tone and nature, but with elements of Inidian culture from an American-Indian who is obviously exploring her mis-matching heritage.

This collection draws you in with a superbly written opening story that is evocative not only of it's setting and time, but of everything it describes. The first opening short grabs you carefully and leads you to a surprising end.

And that was it. Each story that came next was just a regurgitated culture-clash of two countries trying to fit inside one person. They were, in a word, dull. They followed the same kind of pattern, of description: some nice evocation of the sights and smells in the immediate vicinity and then... sentimentality takes over and the tiny splash of Indian-tonic is overpowered by flowery prose that never deviates from it's opening style.

They also included that detestable contemporary storytelling trope of being mysterious with metaphors without actually saying anything. It may warm your heart and make you believe you've read something profound, but you have not.

I feel slightly cheated, having enjoyed the first story actually quite a lot. If it had been that one single story, this book would have been a good read. As it stands, it is a collection of one story, just with different words.


Follows are mini reviews of each story, to remind myself of the individual;

'A Temporary Matter', 4 Stars: Definitely was not expecting to like nor enjoy these stories, but the first one really grabs you and doesn't let go. The story itself is a quiet one, set in one little world, but as anyone who has lived will tell you, their own little worlds are the biggest things ever.

The writing is so good, drawing you in but not being overly metaphorical, which is always my main issue with short stories. This was a goodly length, the right pace and just the exact amount of sadness. It punches you, but very gently.

'When Mr Pirdaza Came to Dine', 1 Star: Nicely paced and written, and I appreciate the sentiment of the story, but I only found it boring.

'Interpreter of Maladies', 1 Star: Wasn't quite what I was expecting. Nicely written but I found it boring.

'A Real Durwan', 1 Star: A kind of Peter and the Wolf tale as far as I can reckon, though I found it to be a little of that contemporary metaphor-filled nonsense that I do dislike. Written nicely like the others, but boring as usual.

'Sexy', 1 Star: I can see a pattern developing with these stories after a very nice and promising start. Written well, but I just find the stories boring, the characters boring and everything in between boring.

'Mrs Sens', 1 Star: More pattern. Written well and at times I felt like the story would pick up and I would feel the magic I felt whilst reading the first story of this collection, but sadly I only found it boring like the others.

'This Blessed House', 2 Stars: I enjoyed this until the end, and then it became another boring story with that unending contemporary mystery of metaphor. I was drawn in to the lives of this newly married couple and was intrigued as to where their story was going. But it ended abruptly, and I didn't understand why I should care, and the metaphors were infuriating as usual.

'The Treatment of Bibi Haldar', 1 Star: Another story that promised great things through it's writing style, and yet does not deliver even remotely.

'The Third and Final Continent', 2 Stars: As evocative as the first and with a nice sentiment, yet still I found it dull. A better end to the stories with nice description that led me through the black and white, but sadly there was nothing to make me care for the characters, nor indeed particularly believe what was being told.