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About the Book

About the Book

White Dancing Elephants: Stories

A woman grieves a miscarriage, haunted by the Buddha’s birth. An artist with schizophrenia tries to survive hatred and indifference in small-town India by turning to the beauty of sculpture and dance. Orphans in India get pulled into a strange “rescue” mission aimed at stripping their mysterious powers. A brief but intense affair between two women culminates in regret and betrayal. A boy seeks memories of his sister in the legend of a woman who weds death. And fragments of history, from child brickmakers to slaves in Renaissance Portugal, are held up in brief fictions, burnished, made dazzling and unforgettable.

In 16 remarkable stories, Chaya Bhuvaneswar spotlights diverse women of color --- cunning, bold and resolute --- facing sexual harassment and racial violence, and occasionally inflicting that violence on each other. Winner of the 2017 Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize, WHITE DANCING ELEPHANTS marks the emergence of a new and original voice in fiction and explores feminist, queer, religious and immigrant stories with precision, drama and compassion.

White Dancing Elephants: Stories
by Chaya Bhuvaneswar