Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
2010; University of Oklahoma; Volume: 84; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/wlt.2010.0167
ISSN1945-8134
Autores Tópico(s)Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies
ResumoWORLD LITERATURE IN REVIEW ^ ^^ ^^ H over the corner of the prayer mat to prevent the devil from sitting on it; on her return, the prayer mat is flat, the corner folded back to its original position. The only person in the house to execute such an action is the cook?the devil himself?so Razia seeks the advice of a hakim. This collection is certainly engaging, not least because of the variety of narratives and the per spectives it presents, and it will surely pull an audience with the "big" names it showcases?Mohsin Hamid, Tabish Khair, Kamila Sham sie, Raj Kamal Jha?but whether this really is "The New Anthem" of Eng lish South Asian fiction is uncon vincing?a better collection might have showcased emerging writers whose voices are yet to be heard. Emma Dawson Keele University O Thiam Chin. Never Been Better. Selangor, Malaysia. MPH. 2009. 242 pages. S$19.26. isbn 978-967-5222-46-7 Love, loss, and death are at the heart of this collection of stories. As too, is modern Asian living. Never Been Better starts with arguably the best of all the stories in the collection, "Fireworks/' The book's title is taken from this opening tale, the closing of which reads: "You feeling okay?" "Never been better." And yet not all the stories in O Thiam Chin's collec tion can assert being in such a state. Deep loss, grief, struggle, and sorrow frame the stories here, and such emo tive narratives deal with big themes. "Turning a Blind Eye" is unforgiving in its tale of domestic violence and alcoholism; "Smoking" is candid in its depiction of a mother dying of lung cancer; and "Exodus" is far from gentle in its telling of Yichang's move to Singapore to make a bet ter life for himself?the story end ing with his treatment of a sexually transmitted disease after nights (and dollars) spent on prostitutes. The collection starts well. The first story, "Fireworks," is gripping and takes Singaporean fiction in new directions. It speaks (as do many of the stories here) of the unspo ken: a personality-disorder clinic or "Home," as the protagonist tells us. A new girl arrives who is promptly beaten and abused by brutish, burly Clare and her associates. The story closes with the news that Clare has been cut from ear to ear; after smug gling a scalpel, the new girl waits until lights-out and slashes Clare's throat. When asked where the new girl was taken after the incident, one of the residents exclaims: "Not sure what happened to her, but I think they have locked her up in a solitary ward in the basement. Last I heard, the police had been notified. Freak ing drama right?" None of the stories that follow have quite the same impact as "Fire works." Some feel long and a little labored at times. However, there are several other curious and moving tales such as "Moth," "Smoking," and the final story of the collection, "Silence." This (long) short story of suicide and sisterhood, bound in questions of love and sexuality, is moving and poignant. O Thiam Chin is certainly an author to watch. Never Been Better is testament to his wish to take Sin gaporean fiction in new directions, exploring modern Asian living and, for this collection of stories at least, modern Asian dying, too. Emma Dawson Keele University Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Wench. New York. Amistad. 2010.293 pages. $24.99. ISBN 978-0-06-170654-7 Dolen Perkins-Valdez's debut novel, Wench, is outstanding: well craft ed, imaginative, spellbinding, and above all satisfying. It is the story of two slave women?one from Ten nessee and the other from Louisi ana?who are related well beyond the confines of enslavement. Mawu and Lizzie meet when their masters take them as concubines to a sum mer resort in Ohio. Mawu is defiant and carefree. Lizzie loves her master and is reserved. Within the span of four such summer excursions, they learn that love can sustain them in the face of excruciating cruelty, depravity, and disappointment. Divided into four parts, the story begins in 1852 at the Tawawa...
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