Shaila Abdullah

Beyond the Cayenne Wall: Collection of Short Stories Shaila Abdullah

Abdullah takes us into the hearts and minds, realities and yearnings, and daily existence of women young and aged in and from South Asia. Her stunningly beautiful prose and elegant iridescent descriptions of the land that these women love is juxtaposed with the brutality and coarseness of their everyday existence.-Dr. Shirley Hord, author of Implementing ChangeBeyond the Cayenne Wall captures the cultural chasm-and sometimes the collision between the East and the West-as the characters struggle to find their individualities despite the barriers imposed by society. Tannu refuses to give up her firstborn to the caretakers of the shrine of Shah Daullah as tradition dictates. Dhool is a defiant, spirited woman who confronts the five mistakes in her life and ventures out among the wolves in human clothing to make ends meet. In a striking account of alienation and the clash of two worlds, Mansi faces some tough choices when she brings her widowed mother back with her to live in the United States. In these and several other stories, Abdullah weaves together a collection of events that spin around betrayals, confessions, acceptance, and denial, shaken in with exotic spices and flavor, a potpourri for the senses.