A chronicle of the final seven days of a town that is about to be razed to the ground by an invading army. The lonely voyage of an elephant from Kerala to a princess’s palace in Morocco. A fabled cook who flavours his food with precious stones. A coterie of international diplomats trapped in near-Earth orbit. These, and the other stories can be found in this collection.

    A rich and emotionally resonant collection of twelve stories of hope, momentary joy, and powerful endurance.

    Though many of the stories gathered here were published separately, there are several themes common to them all, giving them new meaning in the context of this collection.