Love in the Tsunami brings together a selection of Ashok Ferrey’s short fiction and includes four brand-new stories. The title story, set against the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 describes Veena Patel’s all-too-brief encounter with forbidden love. ‘But Did I Tell You I Can’t Dance?’ is a hilarious fable about the occasional humiliations and the many heart-warming victories of old age. And in ‘Maleeshya’ Ashok himself makes a cameo appearance as a dead author who has embarrassingly come back to life. Endlessly inventive and crackling with energy, Love in the Tsunami represents the very best writing in English from contemporary Sri Lanka.
About the author:
Ashok Ferrey: Born in Colombo, raised in East Africa, educated at a Benedictine monastery in the
wilds of Sussex, Ashok Ferrey read Pure Maths at Christ Church Oxford, ending up
(naturally) in Brixton, converting Victorian houses during the Thatcher Years.
He describes himself as a failed builder, indifferent mathematician, barman and
personal trainer to the rich and infamous. His earlier Colpetty People and The Good
Little Ceylonese Girl as well as Serendipity were shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize, Sri
Lanka’s premier literary award.
Today Ferrey continues to design houses and is a guest lecturer at the Sri Lanka
Institute of Architecture. His hobbies include pushing the car when it’s out of petrol and
de-ticking the dogs. Oh, and vegetable shopping at Raheema’s