She Never Looks Quite Back

Stories about choice, strength, love and women with an unquenchable thirst for life.

The life of a woman, no matter who she is or where she might be, typically encompasses loss and longing, despair and courage, regret and love. She Never Looks Quite Back murmurs of such experiences and more. The stories depict themes of growing up, social unrest, nature, war, migration, reconciliation, sensuality, infidelity and the pandemic. The narratives allow glimpses into lives conflicted by chance and choice... women who find themselves in the most extraordinary circumstances, yet never giving up, not without a fight.

Be transported from Singapore's swanky skyscrapers to wild Malaysian forests to rough African seas through waves of penultimate moments. Ode to Joy plays a forgotten tune while reliving the scars of surviving the Japanese Occupation in Singapore. Bird Watching captures a woman's panic and escape, eventually plunging into the depths of her existential being. The Liquid Goalie—a fictionalised true story—charts a young Gambian woman on a perilous journey to Europe. A Polish character in Katarzyna's Secret is bent on staying alive, despite violation to her body, to reunite with her children someday.

Mallika Naguran's debut collection of short stories reveals women's unquenchable thirst for life without being unfazed by cruel turn of events. Her lyrical style of writing amplifies the fragility of humans while bringing into play metaphorical connection and intervention. The tales are timeless yet prick at many of today's issues.