The World with Its Mouth Open

Rafiq’s piercing debut collection takes a harsh look at the lives of people in Kashmir. “The Bridge” tells the story of Nusrat, a pregnant woman who has a chance meeting with Rajaji, the brother of her childhood friend, while on the way home from a doctor’s appointment. When Rajaji goes to get bread from a nearby bakery and doesn’t return, Nusrat fruitlessly searches for him. “In Small Boxes,” a tragic story of misunderstanding, chronicles an unnamed reporter’s obsession with the beautiful objects for sale in Mr. Hussain’s store, and Mr. Hussain’s paranoia that the reporter is conspiring against him. “Bare Feet” centers on a man who returns to his hometown after his mother’s death to try to bring his father to America, while the poignant “Flowers from a Dog” follows a man as he searches a graveyard for his recently dead lover, who left him for a richer man. Rafiq artfully peels back the layers of his characters’ emotions, exposing raw truths and complex entanglements (as Mr. Hussain tells the reporter, “It is not a small thing.... To tell someone’s story. To write the truth”). These revelatory stories leave a mark. (Dec.)