Somebody Loves You

A teacher asked me a question; and I opened my mouth as a sort of formality but closed it softly; knowing with perfect certainty that nothing would ever come out again. Ruby gives up talking at a young age. Her mother isn't always there to notice; she comes and goes and goes and comes; until; one day; she doesn't. Silence becomes Ruby's refuge; sheltering her from the weather of her mother's mental illness and a pressurized suburban atmosphere. Plangent; deft; and sparkling with wry humour; Somebody Loves You is a moving exploration of how we choose or refuse to tell the stories that shape us.

Mona Arshi lives in West London. She worked as a human rights lawyer for Liberty for a decade. Mona Arshi regularly appears on BBC Radio 4. Her poetry has won the Forward Prize and been published in The Sunday Times; The Guardian and the Times of India and most recently appeared on the London Underground.