The Migration of Ghosts

In this collection of short stories, the author dabbles in and out of the occult. A 65-year-old matriarch wins the heart of a postman; a widow commemorates the death of her husband by winning a taverna's dance competition; a South American president takes a sentimental astral journey around the scenes of his ruthless rise to power before being buried by an ungrateful nation; and a discerning parrot tours world cultures and learns about Christianity.

Melville's first collection of stories, Shape-shifter, won the 1990 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, the PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, and the Guardian Fiction Prize.