A Language in Common

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Marion Molteno

‘Marion Molteno’s stories concern one community and her relationship with it that has been sustained and practical over the years… Their chief and overwhelming characteristic is her compassion and her talent for sensitive perception.’ —Anita Desai

A vivid collection of stories based on the author’s nine years as an adult education worker, mainly among women from India and Pakistan living in Britain. These women have as yet no common language; and the society in which they find themselves is alien and often hostile. As they discover more about each other, friendships develop across the boundaries of language and culture.

2000 | ISBN 9780958218603 | Paperback | 198 x 130 mm | 148 pages

Marion Molteno

‘Marion Molteno’s stories concern one community and her relationship with it that has been sustained and practical over the years… Their chief and overwhelming characteristic is her compassion and her talent for sensitive perception.’ —Anita Desai

A vivid collection of stories based on the author’s nine years as an adult education worker, mainly among women from India and Pakistan living in Britain. These women have as yet no common language; and the society in which they find themselves is alien and often hostile. As they discover more about each other, friendships develop across the boundaries of language and culture.

2000 | ISBN 9780958218603 | Paperback | 198 x 130 mm | 148 pages

Charged with insight and compassion. Recommended.’

—Times Educational Supplement

‘Written with honesty, determination, and purpose… It is beautiful and wise.’

—City Limits

‘Marion Molteno has written the most extraordinary book of short stories – one of the first attempts to straddle in fiction the social divide between white Britons and Asians… Her compassion never degenerates into patronising sentimentality, and her sensitive perceptions come from a decade of getting to know her characters.’

—The Independent