Book Review: ‘Refuge’ by Sunny Singh

Book Title: Refuge: Stories of War (and Love)
Author: Sunny Singh
Publisher: Footnote Press Ltd
Number of Pages: 208
ISBN: 978-1804442302
Date Published: Aug. 28, 2025
Price: INR 354

Book Review

Sunny Singh’s latest book, “Refuge: Stories of War (and Love)“, is a collection of short stories that pays tribute to the courage and strength of victim-survivors of war, whose voices often go unheard due to the victors controlling the narrative. The collection includes a few difficult stories, such as “Tulips,” where Lyndsey, an American veteran, gets preferential treatment at a florist for her role in the horrific treatment of enemy prisoners. However, Singh explains that the abuse she has received has made her into a monster, raising questions about power and who has it.

The stories also explore the abilities of individuals to overcome devastating experiences, such as Nusreta, who loses her husband and best friend in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. She refuses to acquiesce with a series of small protests, including serving her rapist with the coffee he demands in a floral, feminine cup. As a refugee in another country, Nusreta realizes that death, not rape, is the worst thing that can happen to anyone, as it is “the living who choose which stories, memories and names are told to the children.”

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The stories have minimal description to anchor their location and time, giving them a sense of universality and emphasizing that love can endure and renewal is possible. The final message from the collection is not one of despair but one of hope.

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