The Almond Flowers and Other Stories, a collection of thirteen short stories by Anil Gharai in translation, highlights the experiences of marginalisation and oppression of communities at the periphery of our society. Set in coastal Bengal, Odisha and the forest kingdom of southwest Bengal, Anil Gharai?s fiction provides an authentic documentation of Dalit voices from the eastern part of the nation. Exploring themes of injustice, destitution, resilience, and the desire for love and for revenge, these stories centre on the lives of the most disempowered and vulnerable, and give a voice to a hitherto invisible section of society. In these poignant stories, we meet a banjara girl who refuses to accept the sexual abuse of the women of her community by the police; a poor midwife faced with an opportunity to avenge her husband?s murder by an upper-class landowner; an outcast leper who finds himself shunned at his rich son?s wedding; and in the titular story, an old, decrepit father who, in his struggle to earn a livelihood, unknowingly brings home danger that ruins his young daughter?s hope for a better life. A visceral portrayal of the experiences of being a Dalit, these stories question the development paradigm by focusing on the heart of underdevelopment. Translated by Anuradha Sen and Arun Pramanik and edited by Indranil Acharya, this collection offers a breadth of vision reminiscent of the works of Mahasweta Devi.