This Other Salt

Betrayal, bereavement, exile, belonging – these are the themes that resonate throughout This Other Salt. A writer, torn between two loves, looks for his lost words in the gaps between memory, mourning and desire in the title story; in 'The Lost Cantos of the Silken Tiger' a poet revenges herself on her faithless lover by turning their romance into a legend of biblical proportions; and a teenage boy's life uncannily begins to resemble the role he plays in a school operetta in 'The Blue Direction'. Combining satire, legend, poetry, history and memoir, the linked stories of This Other Salt reveal an author of uncommon talent at the height of his craft. 'Extraordinarily controlled, written in a tactile, musical prose, with a very individual sense of beauty.' – Amit Chaudhuri 'Each story, remarkable in both expansiveness and precision, sings with heartbreak, intelligence and elegy. A stunning collection.' – Kamila Shamsie 'Poetic perfection … Drawing on legend, history, memoir, literature and film, Hussein's stories are meant to be cupped in both hands and savoured slowly, like a cup of cardamom chai.' – Guardian 'These stories are a treat for readers.' – Newsline