Well told stories with well realised characters . . . Qureshi, like [Jhumpa] Lahiri, is a companionable and considered writer, and this is a collection you can read enjoyably, rain or shine. -- Shahidha Bari ― Guardian The first story, Premonition, explores the idea of damaging gossip in the desi community, its negative impacts on a girl's life, and how life comes full circle. It is a thought provoking story and set the momentum right.

This is an exceptional collection of short stories from Huma Qureshi, a lyrical and beautiful writer, who explores the territory of our most intimate relationships, and the theme of what is left unsaid within them. These wide ranging stories cover cultural and generational tensions, interracial relationships, marriages, family, motherhood, differing mother-daughter dynamics, class, gender, friendships and so much more that marks the ordinariness of the everyday lives that the author elevates to the extraordinary with her razor sharp observations and astute insights. There are the lies, secrets, despair, love, loneliness, loss, grief and silence that many readers will relate to, particularly as there is a universality that crosses cultural boundaries when it comes to the nature of human relationships, repeating themselves in their many forms throughout our history. I gave 2 stars, as the stories themselves were easy to read and written well, also there were some parts where I was able relate to, the first story, where the weekend parties with family friends were described, was my childhood and teen years! One of the book's silliest tales, Superstitious, features a woman who loses her boyfriend unexpectedly and attributes it to passing by a purportedly cursed tree. I started my career on The Observer and The Guardian and worked as a reporter and features writer across consumer news, news and the life and style sections before going freelance to write my first book, In Spite of Oceans, published in 2014 by The History Press. In Spite of Oceans received the John C. Laurence Award from The Authors’ Foundation.

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Huma Qureshi writes like a psychotherapist, considering, analysing, explaining, seeking out conflicts, evasions, and discomforts . . . The form suits her: she succeeds in a short space in describing her settings and defining her characters . . . there are notes of optimism that sound from true love; and, as always, amor vincit omnia. -- Brian Martin ― Spectator

First, I must say that I would never have heard of the brilliant writer, Huma Qureshi, without reading a wonderful review of this collection of short stories by my goodreads’ friend, Paromjit. Her review inspired me to read this book, so thank you, Paromjit. Because I am not tech savvy, I have no idea how to properly thank her, so I will encourage my fellow readers to read this book. A lush, powerful tale of family and sisterhood from award-winning author Chika Unigwe, perfect for fans of Bernardine Evaristo and Tayari Jones Other stories in the collection are diligent, sometimes close to sentimental: a tale about a student friendship gone awry in adulthood and another about a couple coping with repeat miscarriages are sensitive, seem personal and yet are thinly written. Qureshi is feeling her way with this form, and it’s to her credit that so many of these stories succeed. It’s a form she clearly reveres, with the titular allusion to Raymond Carver, and there is a whiff of Alice Munro in Qureshi’s sadly estranged mothers and daughters. These are stories of fierce clarity and tenderness - I loved them' LUCY CALDWELL, author of Intimacies He has shown her many places and many cities, holding them open and unfolded for her in the palm of his hand like a pop-up greeting card for her to stroll about in next to him, both of them side by side

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Within each of the stories South East Asian identity is unsurprisingly prominent, highlighting the difficulties of organic love in the face of strict parents; strained parental relationships even as you grow up and apart into your own family. The struggle of interracial relationships was pinpointed from both sides, too, with both parties on the outskirts of a dynamic they otherwise weren’t party too. Other aspects of adulthood were there too, from outgrowing friendships to the loss of a parent to a thousand wishes after miscarriage. What can I do?’ she asked. You can fight, I thought , you can fight for your daughters. But then again, who was I to speak of such things It would have been the perfect summer; if not for my father’s death” – from the first lines, short story collection Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love, by Huma Qureshi, grabs attention with its simplicity and intimate honesty. With disarming frankness the author writes about real life, ordinary people, and their relationships with themselves and others. To expand, I’m thinking about this more…It’s v hard as an Asian woman to not want stories by an Asian woman writer to do all the work of representation. Even as a woman reading cis women of any colour, I struggle against that need. It’s desperately unfair and not a responsibility of the writer to write about anything other than what interests them, in a way that interests them. The following story, Small Difference, is complete confusion as a woman travels to Italy with her boyfriend and parents while also having trouble comprehending her own emotions. I have no idea what the author was attempting to say.

Huma Qureshi writes like a psychotherapist, considering, analysing, explaining, seeking outconflicts, evasions, and discomforts . . . The form suits her: she succeeds in a short space in describing her settings and defining her characters . . . there are notes of optimism that sound from true love; and, as always, amor vincit omnia. - Spectator With beautiful, immersive prose, I felt myself sink into the beauty of the European countryside, where all the stories were set. I experienced sitting on a balcony, sipping rosé wine to the rustle of leaves from trees surrounding my French holiday villa; I experienced roaming the streets of Tuscany, basking in the ambience of their open market filled with vendors selling their vintage wares; I experienced making paper cranes, scattering them around Rome during my spontaneously-planned vacation. These are stories of fierce clarity and tenderness – I loved them’ LUCY CALDWELL, author of IntimaciesA writer, as a good psychologist, needs to know and intuitively feel the essence of the human soul, and here Qureshi does a great job creating realistic personalities, powerful in their simultaneous clarity and complexity. These are stories about children and parents trying to establish an elusive connection between generations, spouses learning the nature of love and marriage, lovers and friends who are losing and finding each other. Every text serves as a reminder that literature can be a mirror on real life, beautiful in all its imperfections.