WHAT WENT MISSING AND WHAT GOT FOUND

A love letter to the entertaining, unpredictable and flawed characters who populated New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, this collection of magical short stories describes the inner lives of outsiders with humor and tenderness. Set in a deep-rooted community, the book is lyrical with undertones of the blues. There are religious zealots, day-dreaming musicians, failed romantics, and more - a mute woman who believes that the photos of starving children in the newspaper are speaking to her, a man who mourns the loss of his true love while being accused of her murder, and an old couple who spends their last night together as floodwaters rise around their bed. The book is a lyrical, sympathetic look at the kind of people often overlooked in literary fiction. Quirky characters abound in a collection of stories that you will read nowhere else. Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving, all are brought vividly to life, as is the great city of New Orleans, Rhona Whitty, Women s National Book Association. Shaik is a master of imagery, sensual and captivating. Her dialogue is fresh and her subject matter moving, Rachel Wifall, Honors Program Director, Saint Peter s University. The Short Story Review wrote about Shaik s previous adult book, The Mayor of New Orleans