These are emotionally rich and ethically complicated stories, suffused in longing and loss. The collection opens with the chance encounter of a woman and man who have endured unbearable tragedy and yet find hope in each other. Other stories are haunted by the specter of troubled or absent (or both) parental figures and spouses. A fatherless woman who loved being married to her imprisoned drug addict husband has a mysterious benefactor. Two sisters, whose mother went crazy and disappeared, conflict over what to do with their father's ashes. In the final, thrillingly-paced story, a woman flees with her son from her estranged husband who never wanted children, fearing he will harm the boy.