How to Fare Well and Stay Fair

Inside this book bursts a kaleidoscope of characters in historical settings from the Balkans to Scandinavia which they seek to escape fit in or change. Following a few female leads after they leave war-torn Bosnia this book compresses simmering emotions ranging from loss fear love hate revenge displacement regret humor and hope. Almasa the main character in most stories is feisty and funny and she suffers no fools. She will go to any length to take charge of her broken life and avoid being labeled a victim. Fatima is like her subtler sister but no less determined to turn the tables on her horrible fate. In between them are pieces of the author's life as fictionalized as the lives of the two women are real.Each story although compact and unique on its own is tied to all other stories chronologically emotionally or thematically. Together they probe the margins of our contemporary history and give voice to people pushed to the edge of life.