"Seeking Fortune Elsewhere: Stories," by Sindya Bhanoo

I often read and very much enjoy collections of short stories, but less often write about them here, since it is harder to capture in a short blogpost a set of short works than a whole, unified world such as that found in a novel or memoir, my most frequent readings. As I was reading “Seeking Fortune Elsewhere: Stories” (Catapult, 2022), I became so immersed in the world that author Sindya Bhanoo portrayed that I had to write about the book. The setting of many of the stories, in South India, surfaced memories and nostalgia for me, as I spent much of my childhood there. Obviously, my situation was different than that of the Indian and Indian-American characters in these stories; although I cherish my memories, my family and I as White Canadians, while privileged in many ways, were of course also always outsiders in very real ways. Still, one’s feelings, one’s memories of childhood, do not obey one’s knowledge of one’s actual roles. Beyond my own connection with the settings of these stories, the focus on both Indians and Indian-Americans, and more widely, on immigrants, those who move back and forth between and among cultures, is one I have always found of great interest. I married someone who did just that, as did others in my family and among my friends, colleagues, and students. I eagerly read fiction and nonfiction about the topic. Some of my academic publications have addressed aspects of the topic. So all of these factors drew me in to this thoughtful and evocative story collection. But they would not have done so if not for the author’s skillful and moving portrayals of the characters and their families and interactions. Bhanoo writes so beautifully, with so much truth, of love, heartache, conflict, compromise, pride, and more. She particularly focuses on contemporary women characters and their ambivalences and balancing acts. Her portrayals of children are realistic and revealing as well. As you can tell, I was struck by this book, caught up in its world, and highly recommend it.