The fans of contemporary literature who enjoyed the short stories by Amanda Lee Koe should also try a collection by Jennani Durai entitled — quite enjoyably — „Regrettable Things That Happened Yesterday”. The stories read lightly and pull you in, they are filled with a sense of emotional generosity, but they also make you think by bringing forward some of the most important themes in our lives. Jennani Durai focuses on an Indian minority community living in Singapore, although as readers we are frequently invited outside the city itself, showing that lives of the uprooted are in some way alike, regardless of geography.
„Regrettable Things That Happened Yesterday” presents a rich reading experience. This includes some light-hearted, humorous stories, such as everyone’s favorite — “The Employee’s Guide to Transporting Customers to Mexico” — which received raving reviews in the web and tells the story of the workers in a Mexican restaurant in Singapore who undergo a truly extreme training. The story is similar in tone to those written by Aoko Matsuda, one of our favorite writers in Tajfuny. A completely different experience is to be had with „Funeral Gifts”, where the criminal power of the unassuming grandfather comes to light during a funeral. Also the titular story, „Regrettable Things” adds to the variety of the volume — the investigative journalist is forced to revisit her childhood and the results leave the readers shaken up and lastingly impressed.
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