What Went Missing and What Got Found by Fatima Shaik

by Fatima Shaik

What Went Missing and What Got Found is collection of magical short stories about the inner lives of religious zealots, day-dreaming musicians, unlikely heroes and others who inhabit an Afro-Creole neighborhood in New Orleans. Among them are a mute woman who believes that the photos of starving children in the newspaper are speaking to her, a loading-dock worker who sits in a cemetery and ponders the meaning of life, and a man who finds his perfect match only to be accused of her murder. An elderly couple clings together as flood waters rise, and a lone fireman fights off a pack of wild dogs before the book concludes with a young woman who returns home and discovers messages in the storm's debris that illuminate her past and future.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Paperback

First published August 29, 2015

Reviews

[Story Circle Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

For decades I've been a visitor to the Crescent City, New Orleans, but always as exactly that—a visitor. I'd head for the French Quarter, the elegant Garden District, maybe down to the Mississippi to watch the boats. If I encountered a neighborhood, particularly one like the Ninth Ward depicted in What Went Missing and What Got Found, the object would be to move on through as quickly as possible. Don't get involved.

But when I stepped into this same neighborhood and met Achilles, Loutie, Sister Michael Patrick, Sweet Pea and the other characters created by Fatima Shaik, I quickly became part of the community. These folks became my friends. I cared about them and continue to now that the book is closed and on my shelf.

I first met them during ordinary times, just living their own dramas, and then—disaster!

Hurricane Katrina.

These lives changed as the storm changed and horrified the city, the nation and the world. What happened? The final stories look at how Katrina immediately changed each life in drastic and different ways.

This book is author Shaik's recognition of the tenth anniversary of this overwhelming natural disaster. As our memories of Katrina's horrors fade into the decades we should not, and for readers of this book cannot, forget the personal losses that are part of its entire story. Once again, stories are the true record of history.

I'm looking forward to my next New Orleans visit. I'll feel right at home, and I'm hoping I'll run into some of my new friends.

by Trilla Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

[Lucinda Gaddis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to read the remaining stories in What Went Missing and What Got Found. I thoroughly enjoyed Bird Whistle. What I learned about each character from the author's creative narration left me wanting to go to the street their house is on and sit on the porch. Their realness was beautifully complemented by their magicalness.

[Sarah Felton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being from New Orleans is something I hold very close to me. Even when I’m not home I’m able to immerse myself into reading that brings home back to me. This book lets me jump into short stories that take me there and bring back memories. Though the stories aren’t mine, they remind me of my experiences and how alike they are to others. Even stories that you think are ‘only could happen to me’ type tales are ones you realize many New Orleanians have experienced.

[Caroline Ancelet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely authentic voice from New Orleans. Best account of Katrina I've read.

[Diane Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the years since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has come to the attention of many writers and artists who have sought to investigate its problems and its charm, to portray and explain this city that is like no other in America.
That's fine I suppose.
But long before New Orleans hit the headlines, Fatima Shaik, whose family goes back generations in the city and who grew up in a shotgun house in the Seventh Ward, was soaking up the particular, unique flavor of the city. Without having to investigate she knows what people eat for breakfast (grits and toast), what to do when too much sweat makes fat people stick together (run for ice cubes), and how to describe people who have grown markedly peculiar, even for New Orleans ("teched," "He has a young mind," "A. Little. Slow.")
Most of all she has soaked up the language, one that is English, yes, but full of other mysterious stuff that creates its unique cadences as seen in the very beginning lines of "Charity Begins at Home," "The bench inside the front yard fence is a long bench. It's made of wood slats and ornery nails with everything painted over a thick green by hand. It runs across the driveway gate where the cars don't go out anymore. I've heard people call this bench wide. That always made Mama and Papa stiffen up from where they were sitting, center of the bench, hid in the shadows from the sun."
Sorry outsiders--one of which I must count myself--you will never get it right. Futhermore, you probably will never be able to understand, much less penetrate, the delicate, complicated web of relation and association that--judging from these pages--that holds everything together, come what may.
But I do advise anyone who really wants to get a glimpse of New Orleans to read and marvel at this wonderful collection.

[Minty Boland · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a cliché to say that this is Shaik’s love letter to her home town, but that’s just what it is. I could say so many things about this book, but the biggest impression it made on me was its painterly quality. If Paul Gaugin were alive today and writing about New Orleans, this is what he’d write. It’s impossible not to be caught up in the lushness of the prose but this is first and foremost a book about real people. After watching wall-to-wall coverage of Katrina and its aftermath on CNN, there are things I learned only from reading this book. It’s beautiful, lush and poignant and it puts faces and names on the “invisible” people overlooked by most fiction writers. Hope she develops a couple of the stories into full length works.

[Judy Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm normally not a big fan of short stories, but these were exceptional. They center around the lives of African-Americans in Louisiana, mostly in New Orleans. Of particular note were the stories anchored around Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. These stories were glimpses into a chapter or two of someone's life, a small episode exquisitely wrought.

[Pimbok20 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful imagery, language. Dialogue is pitch perfect. Favorite story has to be Achille’s Jass, with Driving Without a License a close second. Makes you want to go to New Orleans and see it for yourself. Will definitely look for more books by this author.

[BookLover · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to get an advance reading copy of this book. The characters are unique and funny. The stories are full of truth and compassion. Sometimes sad, the book is lyrical and unforgettable.

[Angelica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got an advanced copy from a friend and the stories remind me of Zora Neale Hurston's because of the way they capture the depth of a culture that is rich with music, language and humor. I would advise anyone to read this book.

[Fionn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, the imagery is mesmerizing and the characters spring to life. Absolutely captivating!

[Rachel Wifall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shaik is a master of imagery, sensual and captivating. Her dialogue is fresh and her subject matter moving.

[Laurens Suganob]

nice