Cracks grew deep in the barren, parched soil; baked hard like a wrinkled old face. Hot and dusty – the sort of dust that got in your bones. No rain, no clouds, just the blazing hot, unforgiving sun. We have owned, lived and loved on this property for four years. Four dry, hard years that neither man nor beast could enjoy. We pray for rain. When will our prayers be answered? I stand outside our homestead gazing across a barren horizon. I feel a hot breeze on my cheeks and I taste the dust in my mouth. I see a dust devil – some call them whirly-whirly’s – rise up and start to spin its pocket of hot air. As I peer across the olive plantation, the smouldering heat begins to play tricks with my eyes. The trees look blurry as nature’s fever glistens upon the air. Drought conditions are…
Author: Andrey Kurkov Translated by: Boris Dralyuk Publisher: Deep Vellum Publishing (Dallas, Texas) Author copyright 2018 First Deep Vellum Edition 2022. Price: $15.95 (paperback)…
I have a big family on my mom’s side. I’m one of 23 first cousins and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Almost everyone lived…
Alice let herself in with her pair of keys, slammed the door shut with a quick thrust of her foot, flung her shoes and…
Only in Holywood do people pull open a few drawers, stuff crumpled clothes into a suitcase, and slam out the front door. In Jackson…
Author: Joseph Mark Glazner Publisher: Toronto Glazner Books Pages: 390 Price: $16.99 This memoir delves into what was the main generational conundrum during what…
“Sushila, do not cry anymore. You will go with your uncle to Mumbai and stay there. You know well that Auntie and Uncle love…
My father peered ahead towards the moonlit backroad, his hands firm on the beaten leather of the steering wheel. He raised one to scratch…
Thank goodness, almost the whole Redson family-all five of us- gathered together, preparing, all except one of course, but Bethie would arrive soon enough.…
You know I had a family. We had a community. Every year we used to fly south from our homes in the frozen north…