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Ratings: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
Genre: Short Stories / Literary Fiction / Contemporary Fiction

Book Review:
Our Neighbours and Other Stories is a remarkable collection from Neluka Silva, a writer who brings both academic rigour and deep human empathy to her craft. This collection, which includes the Commonwealth Short Story Competition Highly Commended winner ''Our Neighbours,'' showcases Silva's ability to illuminate the complexities of ordinary lives with extraordinary skill.

The stories are populated by characters who feel achingly real—ordinary people navigating the challenges of love, betrayal, rivalry, anxiety, and regret. Whether it is acid thrown into the face of a lover, a relationship transformed during an air raid, or a deserter exchanging one hell for another, Silva's narratives are marked by their emotional intensity and psychological depth.

Set largely in Sri Lanka's middle-class milieu, these stories transcend their specific settings to speak to universal human experiences. Silva's writing is both elegant and accessible, drawing readers into the lives of her characters and making them care deeply about their fates. Her academic background in literature is evident in the craft of her storytelling, but it never overshadows the raw human drama at the heart of each story.

For lovers of short fiction, Sri Lankan literature, or simply well-told stories, Our Neighbours and Other Stories is a must-read. It is a testament to the power of the short story form and a significant contribution to Sri Lankan English literature.