Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love

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First, I must say that I would never have heard of the brilliant writer, Huma Qureshi, without reading a wonderful review of this collection of short stories by my goodreads’ friend, Paromjit. Her review inspired me to read this book, so thank you, Paromjit. Because I am not tech savvy, I have no idea how to properly thank her, so I will encourage my fellow readers to read this book. This story was originally published in Day One , a weekly literary journal dedicated to short fiction and poetry from emerging writers. In this rich collection of stories, Huma Qureshi shows us the truth, mess and beauty of humans trying - and often failing - to understand each other. Just like love itself, her stories are full of honesty and mystery, pain and hope, and the memories we think we've forgotten, but that still steer our hearts. I'm still thinking about them. And Huma Qureshi is a writer I know I'll be reading for years and years and years.

A daughter asks her mother to shut up, only to shut her up for good; an exhausted wife walks away from the husband who doesn't understand her; on holiday, lovers no longer make sense to each other away from home. Read this book as a part of our April Bookclub, I was really looking forward to it. It was a hit for some of our members, but not for me, sadly. What annoyed me a bit though is how it seems most of the stories had a [Pakistani] Muslim woman with white man trope. Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love is a collection full of secrets and yearnings, the gaps and silences found so often in misunderstandings and miscommunications. These stories work to fill those gaps, creating found families and belonging, and showing the sides of ourselves others rarely see . . . Qureshi's writing conveys the emotions her characters cannot . . . Each story is tightly written and closely edited, ending at the perfect moment . . . Exploring different relationships - mother and daughter, friendships, young love, spouses - Qureshi pulls apart the emotions surrounding each one, making even the darker narratives relatable and evocative. -- Terri-Jane Dow * Mslexia *With beautiful, immersive prose, I felt myself sink into the beauty of the European countryside, where all the stories were set. I experienced sitting on a balcony, sipping rosé wine to the rustle of leaves from trees surrounding my French holiday villa; I experienced roaming the streets of Tuscany, basking in the ambience of their open market filled with vendors selling their vintage wares; I experienced making paper cranes, scattering them around Rome during my spontaneously-planned vacation. This collection has reminded me how much I love short stories . . . I devoured it cover to cover . . . the whole collection is seriously wise and moving; one I know I'm going to revisit. -- Anna Bonet * Well Read * Huma Qureshi writes the inarticulable distances between mothers and daughters, the consuming ache of longing for someone not yet kissed, the invisible, irreparable breaches in friendships or between lovers, with such pitch-perfect precision, such lightness of touch. These are stories of fierce clarity and tenderness - I loved them.

The two best stories had a magical, fable-like quality and were emotionally complex. A lot of the remaining stories sort of blurred into one. The writing has a real force but sometimes I wished we could truly enter the minds of other characters/types in the book. The following story, Small Difference, is complete confusion as a woman travels to Italy with her boyfriend and parents while also having trouble comprehending her own emotions. I have no idea what the author was attempting to say. After recently having lost my own mother, I find myself gravitating towards reads that explore mother/daughter relationships as it provides me with a sense of comfort I can’t quite articulate. Going into Quereshi’s collection, I had no idea what to expect & as always it was the best thing as I am so blown away & cannot sing it’s praises high enough. From the author of the award-winning Saltwater comes a beautifully told love story set across England, France and Spain.This is an exceptional collection of short stories from Huma Qureshi, a lyrical and beautiful writer, who explores the territory of our most intimate relationships, and the theme of what is left unsaid within them. These wide ranging stories cover cultural and generational tensions, interracial relationships, marriages, family, motherhood, differing mother-daughter dynamics, class, gender, friendships and so much more that marks the ordinariness of the everyday lives that the author elevates to the extraordinary with her razor sharp observations and astute insights. There are the lies, secrets, despair, love, loneliness, loss, grief and silence that many readers will relate to, particularly as there is a universality that crosses cultural boundaries when it comes to the nature of human relationships, repeating themselves in their many forms throughout our history.

He has shown her many places and many cities, holding them open and unfolded for her in the palm of his hand like a pop-up greeting card for her to stroll about in next to him, both of them side by side On holiday, we betray otherwise carefully concealed anxieties. Perhaps it is the fatigue of travel that sparks irritability, or the discombobulation of new places that somehow more sharply illuminates faults that are usually overlooked. Whatever the case, it’s also true that short story collections, when the tales are neat and portable like Qureshi’s, are good company on travels. Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love feels like an excellent holiday book – making it a slightly odd release for autumn.This sort of thing happened every so often when they had been speaking too frequently or for too long, resentment tinting every word they exchanged like the threat of grey rain in cold spring Huma Qureshi has the perfect title for her short story collection. Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love strikingly encapsulates a major theme of the book: the inability to communicate honestly with the most important people in your life. Qureshi’s stories keenly identify the everyday tragedies of feeling profoundly unknown or unheard, of holding secrets and misunderstandings.