The Water Diviner and Other Stories (Iowa Short Fiction Award)

by Ruvanee Pietersz Vilhauer

In this thought-provoking collection, Sri Lankan immigrants grapple with events that challenge perspectives and alter lives. A volunteer faces memories of wartime violence when she meets a cantankerous old lady on a Meals on Wheels route. A lonely widow obsessed with an impending apocalypse meets an oddly inspiring man. A maidservant challenges class divisions when she becomes an American professor's wife. An angry tenant fights suspicion when her landlord is burgled. Hardened inmates challenge a young jail psychiatrist's competence. A father wonders whether to expose his young son's bully at a basketball game. A student facing poverty courts a benefactor. And in the depths of an isolated Wyoming winter, a woman tries to resist a con artist. These and other tales explore the immigrant experience with a piercing authenticity.

• ISBN13: 9781609385989
• Publish Date: 30 October 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: University of Iowa Press
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 216
• Language: English

Reviews

[lovelybookshelf]

Don't miss this collection if you love short stories, especially if you love people stories. The Sri Lankan immigrants in these stories experience cultural differences (sometimes a clash, sometimes a joy), colorism, classism, cultural appropriation, the lingering effects of colonialism, and the realities of the "American Dream". Vilhauer sure knows how to craft a short story and keep readers interested in her characters' lives - I had trouble putting this down!