An old writer who has received all the literary prizes his country has to offer, a widow who receives a condolence letter from her late husband's club, a grandmother who makes a kantha for her grandchild, a newspaper employee who falls in love with her co-worker, a sculptor who makes a statue of a political leader, a forensic doctor whose late husband saved a four-anna coin, a young woman who combs all her hair over one ear, three friends who knew each other as adolescents - what do they have in common? Different in age, gender, social status, marital situation, citizenship, they are all characters in Niaz Zaman's third collection of short stories. The stories of The Maidens' Club are all new - the earliest dating back to 2006. Generally narrated from a woman's perspective, they are sometimes sad, sometimes funny, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes thought-provoking. Set mainly in Dhaka, the stories unfold the gradual changes that have transformed the writer's beloved city from a sleepy provincial town to a modern megapolis.

Contents:

1. The Maidens' Cub / 2. The Special Member / 3. Made for Each Other / 4. Only God Can Make an Ear / 5. The Four-Anna Coin / 6. Mrs. Jalil's Jelly / 7. A Quilt for Mrs. Rahman's Grandson / 8. How Do I Love Thee? / 9. The Writer / 10. The Embroidery Prize / 11. The Woman Who Rose / 12. The Statue / Acknowledgements