KDP Select, FREE for all Amazon Prime members June 10th - September 6th, 2013
The Ocean of Mrs Nagai: Stories is set all over the world, from Africa
to Tokyo to Hell's Kitchen, NYC.
Here's what one reader had to say:
"What I loved about this collection is how carefully curated it is.
None of these stories seem to have been thrown in to complete a
collection. It is a short collection, only eight stories, but they are
all so distinctly compelling, about such a diversity of characters,
that each story is a completely new experience unto itself. Ms.
Ahmed's writing is energetic and sharply observed, with plenty of
humor even when she is exploring the darkest follies of human nature.
Truly wonderful."
--Coco Ray
These intricately woven stories have strong, female protagonists at
the center of them, who are searching; either for love, or acceptance
or a sense of their place in the world. One woman was given up for
adoption because her country erupted into war, and wonders what her
mother, a poor Bangladeshi woman was like; another woman wants to
return a ring to the family of an American GI she suspects her husband
killed in the jungles of Asia during WWII. Yet another protagonist, a
little girl, longs to be included in a game by the children who live
in the slum on the other side of her wall. She lives in a mansion in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Author's note:
My childhood was spent travelling because my father was a diplomat.
This meant adventure and learning to be adaptable, but it also meant
displacement and feeling like I never had roots. These stories are
born from my slightly nomadic childhood. Because I was often the new
kid I learned how to observe my immediate environment. Maybe that's
why I became a writer. I had to watch the mood, and tempo and energy
of a place, so I understood how to navigate it.
I chose the cover art carefully, working with an up and coming
Bangladeshi American Artist who felt the images and textures in the
piece reflected in different ways the various textures and layers of
the stories. It took 15 years of living and observing and honing my
craft to write these stories. Each one has been published in journals
and anthologies. One, "Raisins Not Virgins" even won a literary award
in 2003, and was turned into a stage play that was produced all over
America and will be staged in the UK in the coming year. I offer the
contents of my head, and sometimes, my heart to you and hope you are
entertained and illuminated by them. Thank you for reading!