Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe

Ugandan-born Baingana chronicles in her debut collection of linked stories the lives of three sisters growing up in Entebbe after the fall of Idi Amin. Though most of the stories take place in Africa, "Lost in Los Angeles" follows the principal character, Christine Mugisha, as she travels to California, where she grapples with a different breed of racism than she faces in her own country. The title story, "Tropical Fish," follows Christine's apathetic affair with an older, affluent white man who woos her with the many perks of his money. "A Thank-You Note" is a letter from Christine's older sister, Rosa, to an ex-lover that angrily and poignantly recounts her battle with AIDS. Baingana's characters are confined by a passivity and powerlessness (Christine likens herself to a plastic doll) rarely broken, though the collection ends on a hopeful note, as Christine rejoins her mother and sister Patti—Rosa has already died—thinking about how she "would have to learn all over again how to live in this new old place called home." Baingana's richly detailed stories are lush with cultural commentary. (On sale Sept. 12)