by Mai Al-Nakib (Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, ISBN 9789992195413)
In this, her first collection of stories, Kuwaiti author Mai Al-Nakib excavates meaning from the overlooked and the unremarked. In 10 tales, interspersed by linking ‘vignettes’, she shows how, in the midst of mayhem and strife, people get on with their lives. War, disaster and religious conflict are all present here but the author keeps the focus on the individual and, as in life, private joy and grief loom larger than news items.
