Superfluous People

Sometimes it feels as if you don’t matter to anyone—neither at home nor at work, nor in love—and even to yourself you become a burden. In Albinа Nuri’s stories, there are devoted husbands and wives, children who didn’t get enough love, lonely elderly people, and sharp-tongued teenagers. These are heroes from different years and with different temperaments who experience betrayal, loss, being fired, the breakdown of a family. They make mistakes, endure pain from those they love, become disappointed in themselves and in people around them. But even in the middle of a chain of misfortunes they keep searching for warmth amid indifference, dream of meeting someone close in spirit, and hope for forgiveness—sometimes finding support where they expected only hostility. Fifteen stories, fifteen destinies—an honest, straightforward piece of prose about choice, love, and forgiveness, about the fact that “extra” people—those who seem unnecessary—can become a whole world to someone.