Huma Qureshi is an award-winning writer, and the author of the memoir How We Met: A Memoir of Love and Other Misadventures, shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards, and the short story collection Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love, longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Edge Hill Prize, both published in 2021. She lives in London.
Qureshi's stories keenly identify the everyday tragedies of feeling
profoundly unknown or unheard, of holding secrets and
misunderstandings . . . These tales vividly capture the experience
of feeling constrained by family expectations, but also of not
quite fitting the norms of British culture either . . . Qureshi
takes the reader plausibly inside the inner recesses of characters'
hearts and minds. Premonition beautifully recalls the intensity of
a first crush, developed via "a private symphony of glances",
before a bewildering first kiss leads to disaster. And she captures
how such incidents can, in adulthood, seem insignificant and still
life-defining . . . there are so many striking images to
relish.
*Observer*
[Qureshi] has a wonderfully luminous, understated style of
writing
*Evening Standard*
A beautiful short-story collection . . . heartbreaking and
hopeful.
*Red*
Well told stories with well realised characters . . . Qureshi, like
[Jhumpa] Lahiri, is a companionable and considered writer, and this
is a collection you can read enjoyably, rain or shine.
*Guardian*
Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love is a collection full of
secrets and yearnings, the gaps and silences found so often in
misunderstandings and miscommunications. These stories work to fill
those gaps, creating found families and belonging, and showing the
sides of ourselves others rarely see . . . Qureshi's writing
conveys the emotions her characters cannot . . . Each story is
tightly written and closely edited, ending at the perfect moment .
. . Exploring different relationships - mother and daughter,
friendships, young love, spouses - Qureshi pulls apart the emotions
surrounding each one, making even the darker narratives relatable
and evocative.
*Mslexia*
Intimate and incredibly insightful
*Stylist*
A luscious debut . . Qureshi is a dab hand at yanking the rug out
from under the reader. Her immersive, poignant stories - written
mostly in understated prose - often have a sting in the tale . . I
fell for this lyrical, moving collection and the woozy intensity
that infuses many of its stories. Qureshi creates gripping
plotlines and vividly drawn characters and - most importantly - she
is a writer with something to say.
*i*
A deft, satisfying and poignant collection of stories which pivot
around a moment of shock or revelation - and challenge the idea
that shame can be unburdened and secrets liberated, by sharing them
with others. I loved it.
*Pandora Sykes*
[An] impressive debut collection
*Sunday Times*
Huma Qureshi writes like a psychotherapist, considering, analysing,
explaining, seeking outconflicts, evasions, and discomforts . . .
The form suits her: she succeeds in a short space in describing her
settings and defining her characters . . . there are notes of
optimism that sound from true love; and, as always, amor vincit
omnia.
*Spectator*
A series of beautifully written short stories examining the pent-up
frustrations and the everyday betrayals that even our closest
relationships can cause.
*Francesca Brown, Stylist Christmas 2021 Gift Guide*
Huma Qureshi writes the inarticulable distances between mothers and
daughters, the consuming ache of longing for someone not yet
kissed, the invisible, irreparable breaches in friendships or
between lovers, with such pitch-perfect precision, such lightness
of touch. These are stories of fierce clarity and tenderness - I
loved them.
*Lucy Caldwell, author of Intimacies*
I admired Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love. Qureshi writes
with courage and in these extraordinary stories capture the shame
and loneliness of non-belonging and the challenge of
self-acceptance.
*Ingrid Persaud, author of Love After Love*
In this rich collection of stories, Huma Qureshi shows us the
truth, mess and beauty of humans trying - and often failing - to
understand each other. Just like love itself, her stories are full
of honesty and mystery, pain and hope, and the memories we think
we've forgotten, but that still steer our hearts. I'm still
thinking about them. And Huma Qureshi is a writer I know I'll be
reading for years and years and years.
*Natasha Lunn, author of Conversations on Love*
This collection has reminded me how much I love short stories . . .
I devoured it cover to cover . . . the whole collection is
seriously wise and moving; one I know I'm going to revisit.
*Well Read*
A sturdy, and very often moving, debut collection.
*The Skinny*
One of the most talked-about short story books of last year.
*Red*
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