Dramas & Plays
![Sindya Bhanoo - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B09692Q9XV.jpg)
Seeking Fortune Elsewhere
These intimate stories of South Indian immigrants and the families they left behind center women's lives and ask how women both claim and surrender power-a stunning debut collection from an O. Henry Prize winner
Traveling from Pittsburgh to Eastern Washington to Tamil Nadu, these stories about dislocation and dissonance see immigrants and their families confront the costs of leaving and staying, identifying sublime symmetries in lives growing apart.
In "Malliga Homes," selected by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for an O. Henry Prize, a widow in a retirement community glimpses her future while waiting for her daughter to visit from America. In "No. 16 Model House Road," a woman long subordinate to her husband makes a choice of her own after she inherits a house. In "Nature Exchange," a mother grieving in the wake of a school shooting finds an unusual obsession. In "A Life in America," a professor finds himself accused of having exploited his graduate students.
Sindya Bhanoo's haunting stories show us how immigrants' paths, and the paths of those they leave behind, are never simple. Bhanoo takes us along on their complicated journeys where regret, hope, and triumph appear in disguise.
Traveling from Pittsburgh to Eastern Washington to Tamil Nadu, these stories about dislocation and dissonance see immigrants and their families confront the costs of leaving and staying, identifying sublime symmetries in lives growing apart.
In "Malliga Homes," selected by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for an O. Henry Prize, a widow in a retirement community glimpses her future while waiting for her daughter to visit from America. In "No. 16 Model House Road," a woman long subordinate to her husband makes a choice of her own after she inherits a house. In "Nature Exchange," a mother grieving in the wake of a school shooting finds an unusual obsession. In "A Life in America," a professor finds himself accused of having exploited his graduate students.
Sindya Bhanoo's haunting stories show us how immigrants' paths, and the paths of those they leave behind, are never simple. Bhanoo takes us along on their complicated journeys where regret, hope, and triumph appear in disguise.
Editorial Reviews
A Debutiful Can't-Miss Book
A Ms. Most Anticipated Book of the Year
"Bhanoo's command of language is meditative and deeply human . . . Seeking Fortune Elsewhere may be ingrained in a sense of diaspora and displacement. But one can't help but feel that in her brilliant writing, Bhanoo has found her place." -Valerie Wu, Asia Pacific Arts
"Bhanoo captures both the tenacity and tender humanity of her protagonists." -Supriya Saxena, Zyzzyva
"Throughout each story, Sindya adds layers of nuance, so each story has subtleties that are't immediately apparent until a second or third read. Most of all, Sindya's skill in creating compelling plots does justice to the characters within them, often showing the importance of compassion . . . In Seeking Fortunate Elsewhere, you can sit down with these individuals, knowing that even if they are fiction, there is someone out there just like them." -Shelf Unbound
"Exquisite . . . Bhanoo's piercing stories further augment the growing shelves of spectacular first short story collections by women of color." -Booklist (starred review)
"Stunning . . . Bhanoo transforms human drama into mystery. Graceful stories by a writer with enormous empathy for even the most flawed and forlorn among us." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Stunning . . . Bhanoo finds novel ways for her protagonists to cope with adversity . . . This introduces a great new talent." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Seeking Fortune Elsewhere is a rare and breathtaking achievement, a collection of stories so original, so richly imagined and powerfully rendered, that it seems timeless. Each story is a multi-faceted jewel, refracting love and loss, casting a new and profound light on the shadows of the human heart. With her boundless talent, fierce intellect, and abiding curiosity about the souls of her characters, Sindya Bhanoo arrives as one of the most important writers of her generation." -Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This
"This achingly beautiful collection charts the emotional journeys and complicated ties of those who choose to leave and those who are left behind. You will ache for the women at the center of these powerful stories. You will cry for their losses and celebrate their tiny victories. Bhanoo's stories affirm humanity as only good literature can achieve. A magnificent debut of a writer you will read for years to come." -Lara Prescott, author of The Secrets We Kept
"I am still in the grip of this gorgeous collection. How thrilling to see women I know in these pages, tender and fierce, yearning for freedom yet plagued by the past. Each character has carved a precise space in my mind. Every ...
A Ms. Most Anticipated Book of the Year
"Bhanoo's command of language is meditative and deeply human . . . Seeking Fortune Elsewhere may be ingrained in a sense of diaspora and displacement. But one can't help but feel that in her brilliant writing, Bhanoo has found her place." -Valerie Wu, Asia Pacific Arts
"Bhanoo captures both the tenacity and tender humanity of her protagonists." -Supriya Saxena, Zyzzyva
"Throughout each story, Sindya adds layers of nuance, so each story has subtleties that are't immediately apparent until a second or third read. Most of all, Sindya's skill in creating compelling plots does justice to the characters within them, often showing the importance of compassion . . . In Seeking Fortunate Elsewhere, you can sit down with these individuals, knowing that even if they are fiction, there is someone out there just like them." -Shelf Unbound
"Exquisite . . . Bhanoo's piercing stories further augment the growing shelves of spectacular first short story collections by women of color." -Booklist (starred review)
"Stunning . . . Bhanoo transforms human drama into mystery. Graceful stories by a writer with enormous empathy for even the most flawed and forlorn among us." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Stunning . . . Bhanoo finds novel ways for her protagonists to cope with adversity . . . This introduces a great new talent." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Seeking Fortune Elsewhere is a rare and breathtaking achievement, a collection of stories so original, so richly imagined and powerfully rendered, that it seems timeless. Each story is a multi-faceted jewel, refracting love and loss, casting a new and profound light on the shadows of the human heart. With her boundless talent, fierce intellect, and abiding curiosity about the souls of her characters, Sindya Bhanoo arrives as one of the most important writers of her generation." -Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This
"This achingly beautiful collection charts the emotional journeys and complicated ties of those who choose to leave and those who are left behind. You will ache for the women at the center of these powerful stories. You will cry for their losses and celebrate their tiny victories. Bhanoo's stories affirm humanity as only good literature can achieve. A magnificent debut of a writer you will read for years to come." -Lara Prescott, author of The Secrets We Kept
"I am still in the grip of this gorgeous collection. How thrilling to see women I know in these pages, tender and fierce, yearning for freedom yet plagued by the past. Each character has carved a precise space in my mind. Every ...
