A Few Short Notes On Tropical Butterflies

An American scientist, lecturing on cholera in Bombay, visits a makeshift hospital and makes a decision that will change her life. A carpenter sits in the Australian beach house he built for his adored wife, hearing strange noises in the walls. An aid worker in war-tour Africa watches, powerless, as a mission church, filled with people, is burned to the ground. This remarkable collection of short stories delves into the lives of people facing moments of crisis and change. Taking their inspiration from the worlds of science and medicine, these stories illuminate the familiar and frightening ways in which people deal with powerful external forces. Spanning the globe, these vivid and compelling tales reveal people caught between past and present, between different cultures, and between what they know and what they feel. This is an original and exciting debut that speaks of who and what we are in a changing world.