Evocative and crisp, Joginder Paul’s Urdu stories from Dharti ka Kaal are translated into English in Land Lust. His stories offer poignant glimpses of multiracial relations in colonial Kenya and evoke insightful moments of compassion from within harsh xenophobic environs. Paul’s characters breathe life into paper and touch readers not just intellectually, but also viscerally. In these stories, we confront Nature and its wildness and see a palpable connection between people and their land. Land Lust attracts empathetic attention to divisive follies of race and colour, and interrogates notions of progress and development. The writer deftly asserts the dignity of black people by including their voices and predicament in these stories.