Things Are Good Now
- Publisher
- House of Anansi Press Inc
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2018
- Subjects
- Short Stories (single author), Contemporary Women, Literary
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781487001902
- Publish Date
- Feb 2018
- List Price
- $16.95
Library Ordering Options
Description
Set in East Africa, the Middle East, Canada, and the U.S., Things Are Good Now examines the weight of the migrant experience on the human psyche.
In Djamila Ibrahim’s powerful story collection, women, men, and children who’ve crossed continents in search of a better life find themselves struggling with the chaos of displacement and the religious and cultural clashes they face in their new homes. A maid who travelled to the Middle East lured by the prospect of a well-paying job is trapped in the Syrian war. A female ex-freedom fighter immigrates to Canada only to be relegated to cleaning public washrooms and hospital sheets. A disillusioned civil servant struggles to come to grips with his lover’s imminent departure. A young Muslim Canadian woman who’d married her way to California realizes she’s made a mistake.
Things Are Good Now is about remorse and the power of memory, and about the hardships of a post-9/11 reality that labels many as suspicious or dangerous because of their names or skin colour alone. Most importantly, it’s about the compromises we make to belong.
About the authors
DJAMILA IBRAHIM was born in Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia, and moved to Canada in 1990. Her stories have been shortlisted for the University of Toronto’s Penguin Random House Canada Student Award for Fiction and Briarpatch Magazine’s creative writing contest. She was formerly a senior advisor for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. She currently lives in San Francisco, California.
Djamila Ibrahim's profile page
Meghan Swaby is a first-generation Jamaican-Canadian actor and playwright based in Toronto. Her play Venus' Daughter was produced by Obsidian Theatre in 2016 and was included on The SureFire List (Playwrights Guild of Canada) as one of the top 23 recommended plays in Canada. She has participated in various playwriting residencies over the years, with companies such as Nightwood Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Diaspora Dialogues, Playwrights Workshop Montreal, and the Stratford Festival. Her work has been performed internationally and was included as part of 50in50: Writing Black Women Into Existence at the Billie Holiday Theatre (Brooklyn, NY). Meghan's writing was included in the anthology Black Lives, Black Words (Oberon Playwrights Press 2017). Meghan is a graduate of University of Windsor (Acting) and alumni of Shakespeare Globe (UK). She currently has several works in development including commissions with Myseum of Toronto and The Stratford Festival, and a podcast about Caribbean folklore.
Awards
- Commended, A 49th Shelf Book of the Year
- Short-listed, Danuta Gleed Literary Award
Excerpt: Things Are Good Now (by (author) Djamila Ibrahim; read by Meghan Swaby)
From “Heading Somewhere”
Holding the corner post for balance, Sara climbs onto the patio chair. She wraps the bedsheet she’s tied to the ledge like a rope around her arm and slowly climbs over her employers’ second floor balcony and down to the quiet street below. A metre or so before her feet touch the ground, she loses her grip and falls on the asphalt. She gets up quickly, adjusts the duffle bag on her back and looks up towards the house. The lights have not been turned on. She takes a deep breath and searches the dark street for the ride Ahmed, her employers’ gatekeeper had arranged for her. She spots an old van a few metres away. Its rear lights flash twice as agreed upon. She walks towards it as fast as she can without running.
“Get in the back,” the driver says from the half-open window before Sara has a chance to make eye contact.
“Cover yourself with that blanket and keep your head down,” he orders with a rushed voice.
Panic takes over as she slides the van door shut. What if this is a trap? She trusts Ahmed. He didn’t let her out of the compound alone for fear of losing his job but he was nice to her. And he has delivered on the promise of finding her someone who, for a fee, would help her. But this man on the other hand could be taking her to the police station instead of the outskirts of Damascus where she’s supposed to meet someone who will take her to Beirut. She shakes the distressing thought away. There is nothing she can do now but hope for the best.
Editorial Reviews
Ibrahim writes with intensity and empathy, drawing believably complex characters who are understandably torn between bleak alternatives. Things Are Good Now feels fresh and raw and real. Amid the disheartening racism and sexism are the pull of patriotism, the solidity of traditionalism, and ultimately, mercifully, the power of even small glimpses of optimism.
Toronto Star
Things Are Good Now should be included on every to-be-read list. Each story is powerful and important, and each voice, while fictional, is a perfect representation of hard truths. These voices should be heard.
This Magazine
Abounds with literary promise . . . A worthwhile read for its intimate investigations of global unrest.
Literary Review of Canada
This is essential fiction for right now.
Globe and Mail