The Most Beautiful House in the Neighborhood, by Kristina Gavran

Fiction Photo by Peter Boccia / Unsplash After renting a room in an Indian family’s house in England, the Croatian tenant becomes privy to one member’s dreams of return. “This is it!” Parvati, a young Indian woman, shows me a tiny room with scarcely space for a bed, a chest-of-drawers, and a chair. The place is so small we can barely both fit in it. The walls are covered in scruffy wallpaper, moisture has accumulated near the windows, and the curtains smell of dust. So, the room is minute, the house is neglected, the street is nondescript, and it is a long way from the city center. They told me it is known as Little Asia. It’s not ideal, but I don’t have a lot of money. I moved to England two weeks ago and urgently need a place to lay my head. Parvati is charging a reasonable rent, and I don’t need much. Also, I like her family. Her husband, Arjun, and two sons with big brown eyes greeted me excitedly when I entered the house. “I’ll take it!” I nod. Parvati claps her hands joyfully and then steps to the window and opens the curtains. “And here is the garden,” she says timidly. I peep out of the window. Before my eyes emerges a typical English backyard, only this one is entirely overgrown and unkempt. You can barely see to the fence, it is so overrun with ivy. The roof of the garden-shed has collapsed, the walls are higgledy-piggledy, and it looks as if the whole lot is about to collapse. Potted plants, rain-soaked toys,... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2021-06-07 20:25:08 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "The Most Beautiful House in the Neighborhood, by Kristina Gavran"


Brentwood's Diesel bookstore launches a GoFundMe as more stores struggle through pandemic

Beloved L.A. bookstores like Diesel are turning to fundraising platforms to survive the financial blows dealt by COVID-19. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-09-14 20:54:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Margaret Atwood on her virtual 'Testaments' tour wardrobe, totalitarianism and Trump

Ahead of a Chevalier's bookstore talk with Bradley Whitford, the "Handmaid's Tale" author talks about Ann Dowd, Zoom-worthy tops, dystopia and elections. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-09-14 14:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How Bookstore Unions Are Stepping Up

No single event has wiped out more bookselling jobs in the modern era than the Covid-19 pandemic. Few booksellers have any job protections—that is, unless they have a union. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Baltimore’s Inner Harbor Barnes and Noble to close Saturday

The Barnes and Noble bookstore at 601 E. Pratt St. at Baltimore's Inner Harbor will close Saturday, according to a sign posted at the location. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2020-08-25 17:48:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Century of Shakespeare and Company

A look back at the history of the 100-year-old Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-08-21 10:37:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How to open a bookstore during a pandemic: Prepare for delays and lots of cleaning.

Timing is everything, but during the pandemic, it largely hasn’t been on the side of businesses. So I was recently surprised to see The Strand, whose iconic storefront in Union Square attracts thousands of visitors a year, opening a new branch in my neighborhood last month—and in a space where,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-12 19:56:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Iconic Lower East Side bookstore Bluestockings has found a new home!

Beloved NYC bookstore Bluestockings—long a fixture on the Lower East Side—has found a new home. This will come as a relief to downtown book-lovers who worried the iconic feminist bookstore was closing for good due to both pandemic woes and the threat of increased rent (in a pandemic 😬). After a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-10 15:01:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Bookstore That Shines as ‘a Lighthouse of a Free Society’

A Hong Kong bookseller has recreated his shop in Taipei, and it has become a symbol of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-08-09 07:00:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this


It Takes Many Voices to Find the Truth

Yesterday I stopped in at my local bookstore in London. It’s a small shop, but a good one, and seeing its doors open again was like hearing an ice-cream truck from a block away as a kid. I walked straight into traffic to cross the street to get there. Inside the reality of our time […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-06 08:49:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Amid a virus surge and government repression, Hong Kong’s oldest bookstore is closing.

I know that fingers can’t “plod,” but that is what they are doing now, delivering upsetting news that encapsulates this shitty year. As Hong Kong teeters on the edge of a serious coronavirus outbreak and democratic institutions continue losing a war of attrition with the Chinese government, the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-29 18:53:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


She dreamed of a Black-owned bookstore in Inglewood. Now, she's going to run one

As a child, Asha Grant didn't know where to find books about people who looked like her. Next year she'll open that place, the Salt Eaters, in Inglewood. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-07-23 14:00:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Greenlight Bookstore is pledging to improve treatment of Black employees and customers.

The owners of Greenlight Bookstore, which has two Brooklyn locations, came forward this week to take responsibility for “negative experiences of Black customers and employees in our stores” with a commitment to improving. In an open letter published Wednesday, co-owners Rebecca Fitting and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-10 16:24:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Most Anticipated Debuts of the Second Half of 2020

There’s no doubt COVID-19 has forever changed the world as we know it. A small slice of life that had to shift trajectory is the publishing industry. Debut authors are especially struggling as the books they have worked on for countless years are released into a world without in-person book... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-06-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Meet Ed Vaughn, an understated Black Power icon and former bookstore owner.

It was my best case scenario. Not only did Edward Vaughn pick up the phone, but he was willing and eager to speak. At 85 years old, he had way more energy than me, 60 years his junior, when I called him earlier this week. (An unfortunate cocktail of technological failure and fanboyish... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-25 14:02:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Black Bookstore Selling Out of Books For First Time in 30 Years: Critical Linking, June 14, 2020

An awesome daily roundup of the most interesting bookish links from around the web. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-06-14 10:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


On stories of Black struggle, an iconic L.A. bookstore surges

Sales at Eso Won Books in Los Angeles and other Black bookstores have skyrocketed as Americans seek to educate themselves about the Black experience. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-06-12 19:36:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


On stories of Black struggle, an iconic L.A. bookstore surges

Sales at Eso Won Books in Los Angeles and other Black bookstores have skyrocketed as Americans seek to educate themselves about the Black experience. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-06-12 19:36:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


On stories of Black struggle, an iconic L.A. bookstore surges

Sales at Eso Won Books in Los Angeles and other Black bookstores have skyrocketed as Americans seek to educate themselves about the Black experience. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-06-12 19:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bookstores Go It Alone in Reopening

Many governors across the United States have been eager to the begin the multiphase reopening of businesses, but many bookstore owners are acting more cautiously than state guidelines recommend. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Indie bookstore Tattered Cover thinks speaking out is “a slippery slope.” Twitter does not agree.

On Saturday, Denver’s beloved independent bookstore Tattered Cover released a statement “about recent events,” asserting their support for Black Lives Matter, but also defending their silence and explaining that to align the bookstore with any “public debate” is a “slippery slope.” Bookstore... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-08 13:56:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this