The Opium Eater and Other Stories

Susan Patrick is a librarian at Ryerson University.

Love and death are recurring themes in these stories. Set in India in an
indefinite modern time, they centre on family life, on the relationships
between husbands and wives (often brought together in loveless arranged
marriages), and between parents and children. There is a strong sense of
place, of the sights and sounds, heat and smells, and religious customs
of daily village life.

The stories have something of the flavor of old tales and legends: the
cowardly hunter who becomes an unexpected hero by shooting a tiger by
mistake; the old grandmother who pines away in prayer for 75 years after
being deserted by her husband; the unresponsive wife who puts adultery
in her husband’s mind by dreaming it; the spirits of long-dead
forbidden lovers who are visible only to those in love; the miraculous
cure for stomachache; a man’s love, beyond death, for his bicycle.

The author, a born raconteur, has a light, affectionate, and humorous
touch, even when dealing with serious themes.