Thapa explores disparateives in contemporary Nepal, and weaves them into compact, jewel-bright narratives.'-Time Out Comprising perfectly crafted micro stories, and stories of conventionalength, Tilled Earth off ers glimpses into the private dramas of people caught midlife: an elderly woodworkeroses his way in a modern Kathmandu neighbourhood; a homesick expatriate nurses a hangover; a clerk at the Ministry of Home Affairsearns to play Solitaire on the computer; a young woman goes to Seattle as a student, and fi nds herself becoming an illegal alien; a retired secretary visits the Buddha's birthplace,umbini, only to find his deepest insecurities exposed.