The Space Between the Raindrops
Justin Ker
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2014
ISBN: 9789814615068

Pablo Neruda tries to compose a poem on Isla Negra, as a man considers cheating on his parking coupon at a Maxwell Road car park. A bed thief breaks into a HDB flat every day, only to steal a few hours' rest. Singapore is interviewed as a psychiatric patient on National Day.

Newcomer Justin Ker's imaginative and compelling forays into the field of flash fiction carry on that tradition made so popular in the US over the past three decades, by such luminaries as Joyce Carol Oates, Stuart Dybek and Margaret Atwood. The possibilities in such a short, sharp form are limitless and potentially profound, and Ker reveals his deftness by providing full narratives within only a few pages. Each evanescent story inhabits the fleeting, unrepeatable place between the falling droplets on our island of rain. Perfect for a brief subway ride or the interval spent waiting for the bus, as well as that languid afternoon spent contemplating a thunderstorm, The Space Between the Raindrops is a remarkable collection of short stories told by a startling new voice.