Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Abdullah, Pari – as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named – is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her.

The 2013 Pulitzer Prize for fiction is awarded to The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson.  About the hidden world of North Korea with all of its misery, this novel is part political thriller, part romance, and part coming-of-age. 

For a list of all of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winners in each category, click here.

The subtitle to Hand’s new collection of short stories gives the reader some clue about what to expect here. These stories straddle a line between literary fiction, the fantastic, and horror, moving gracefully between all three.  Dark and beautiful, filled with rich language and sensuous imagery. A stand-out in the collection is the Hugo-nominated “The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon.” Recommended for fans of  A.S. Byatt, Caitlin Kiernan, and Tanith Lee.

(alphabetically by author)