The Ugliest House in the World

Born in Britain to Welsh and Chinese parents, Peter Ho Davies writes stories that not only reflect his multinational heritage but delight in their own odd juxtapositions. Moving fluidly from the present to the past, from Coventry to Kuala Lumpur, from moral seriousness to broad comedy, these varied tales are united by an elegant intelligence, a sly sense of humor, and a deeply humanistic feeling for the mystery and grace of inner lives. In the heartbreaking title story, a rural community in North Wales copes with a child's death and learns the reach of guilt. "The Silver Screen" follows the fortunes of a group of ragtag rebels in Malaya whose hapless effort to join a communist uprising plays like an outtake from the Keystone Kops. In the collection's central novella, "A Union," a slate miner laid off during a prolonged strike struggles with the complex strains on his marriage. Consequential events touch all these affecting characters in ways both surprising and profound.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.