The Blue Taxi Author:N. S. Koenings In the middle of a busy intersection, in a city in Africa, a careening bus, a gongo-drinking driver, and--a terrifying collision nearly kills a local boy. Sarie Turner, a stunned witness, cannot stay on the sidelines. She offers the boy comfort until help comes, and for days afterward can think of nothing but his fate. &n... more »bsp; Once a nurse, now a housewife and mother, Belgian-born Sarie does not expect much excitement from life, but in the wake of this fateful accident, she finds herself with a new sense of purpose. However, when she tries to visit the ailing child, she is warned away. Those in the know say that there is a bad-luck cloud over the Jeevanjee household, ruled by a dangerous man known as Mad Majid. There is no telling what violence he might commit if she dares show at this doorstep. Still, dead set on her mission, Sarie ventures to the shuttered green house and finds there not a lunatic but a man haunted by grief for his nine-years-lost bride. Before long, their friendship blossoms into a taboo affair that surprises both them and the neighborhood eyes and ears. Writing with an inventiveness and delight in language that is utterly her own, N.S. Koenings captures an African city brimming with life and full of contradictions, just like the people who inhabit it. The Blue Taxi is a dazzling tale of love, courage, and what happens when lives and fates collide. N.S. Koenings holds a BA in African studies from Bryn Mawr College and a PhD in sociocultural anthropology from Indiana University where she completed her MFA in fiction. She has lived in West Africa and Europe. She is currently teaching at Hampshire College in Massachusetts.« less