The 2024 Old Prostitute and Other Stories by Roy, Manisha NEUF

The stories of this collection were written over a span of several decades beginning in 1985 and ending in 2022. A few of them were translated by Manisha Roy from her mother tongue, Bengali. Despite the geographical and other contextual differences, the narrative shifted and at times translated itself as if the author traveled easily between different landscapes-both external and internal.

Roys academic training as a cultural anthropologist and later professional training in Analytical Psychology no doubt left undeniable influence in her wandering in the fascinating world of fictional imagination.

Nearly half of the stories are short-an experiment attempted with the genre of flash fiction. However, the strength and charm of the narrative are not affected by the choice of the experiment. Like her translation Roy is able to transcend such structural issues of creating fiction.

Readers will find reading these stories a new and unique experience.

Table of Contents

Mother Country

The Old Prostitute

The Mystery of the Goeta Canal

Illegal Immigrant

A Wedding Gift

Returning Home

Family

Looking for My Father

My Mother

The Betel Quid

Stalemate

Madeleine

The Yellow Nursery

Foible

Passion

A Day of a Therapists Practice

Martinis and Chocolate Mousse

Alone

Sherrys Challenge

Saturday Evening

A Break

The Swimmer of Colombo

The Ideal Partner in the Nineteen-seventies

Spilled Coffee

Hunger Strike

The Wristwatch

The Wheelchair