No writer has rendered our boundariless, post-colonial world more acutely or prophetically than V. S. Naipaul, or given its upheavals such a hauntingly human face. A perfect case in point is this riveting novel, a masterful and stylishly rendered narrative of emigration, dislocation, and dread, accompanied by four supporting narratives.

Diana Rickwood’s isolated childhood by the sea with her uncle, Rohan, a celebrated fashion designer, is dramatically shaken up by the arrival of Rohan’s ‘muse’, model Stella Avery. Diana severs her links with her past and moves to London, trying her best to forget.

Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s.

Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes revolves around twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, the fifteen-year-old white daughter of the town whore and an unknown father.

Ten Thousand Roses By Judy Rebick is a rich tapestry of stories told by over a hundred feminists from across Canada who organized, discussed, protested and struggled for change.