The Reflections of a Hen in Her Last Hour

This collection of 21 stories by Paul Zacharia, a master craftsman of astonishing range and versatility and one of the best-known writers in Malayalam today cover a period of nearly twenty years. Known for his outspoken opposition to religious and cultural fundamentalism, Paul Zacharia has been an unrelenting champion of the individual’s right to speak, to act and to dream. In the first story of this collection, ‘Till You see the Looking Glass’, a young Jesus struggles to come to terms with the burden of his destiny as the Son of God. In ‘Pilgrim to Zion’, three versions of a story that started with the insatiable sexual fantasies of an old man come together in the priest’s confessional. Several of the stories in the collection have evolved from the author’s engagement with contemporary literature in Malayalam, such as the satirical ‘The End of Third-rate Literature’ in which he mocks his own pretensions to being a great writer. Yet others are deeply felt and beautifully detailed images of despair, hope, love and abandon.