The Clinging Thing

Iqra wishes to be a good daughter, a good sister, a good woman, a good mother. It has been made clear to her that people owe their lives to one another—to the driver who slows to a stop when they notice a jaywalker, and the roller-coaster operator who spots an improperly fastened harness … and Iqra’s mother, who raised her, and the mother before her, who tried to stop the blood.

After the loss of a pregnancy, Iqra returns to her mother’s home in the place where she grew up. The past i…