A review by songmingi
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Elsie Chapman, Ellen Oh

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

3.75

This was a wonderful short story collection, with so many myths and folklore that we don't often hear about. My heart swelled at all the South Asian stories, which I wished I could have accessed as a child especially. I really appreciated the author's notes on each story at the end of end of chapter, it allowed readers to understand not only why the author chose to rewrite that myth but also the themes within it. The only reason I can't give this 5 stars, is because as is a problem with many short story collections the quality of writing varied a bit from chapter to chapter. However, the overall quality of writing in this book was excellent, with really innovative spins on classical myths. I hope modern asian literature can continue to flourish in this way.