Lyn Coffin writes with heart and humor of longing and searching—for place, for connection, for love. Here, among these 17 stories, an artichoke reveals for a young bride the fault lines already dooming her new marriage; a mother makes final amends for telling an unwelcome truth about Christmas by telling a comforting lie about death; a young girl navigates the madness of her mother, the possible evil of her father and questions about her own state of mind; and we are treated to an inspired retelling of the classic Tortoise and the Hare fable. Coffin's fictions cross boundaries; they are funny, ominous and heartbreakingly true.

Who will enjoy this book: Fans of realist fiction, American fiction, poetry, and the literary fiction short story.

"Sexy, smartly engaging and quirkily off-beat, these stories are a delight to read and ponder." – Judith Roche, National Book Award-Winning Author of Wisdom of the Body

"Like Oates, like Updike, Coffin gives us characters we recognize, in spaces that are familiar—a coffee shop, a bar. She masterfully reveals the small yet extraordinary moments which eventually become irrevocable fate. Fiction worth re-reading: witty, wise, deeply imagined." – Jed Myers, Author of Watching the Perseids