[close] "Judith Slater is a writer whose work rings true to experience: her observation of the world is keen, reported in a prose distinguished by fresh imagery and clever turns of phrase. Her style is deft, not light, the difference being that deftness is an aspect of grace. Her dialogue sounds like human voices. She has an eye for subtle details, physical and psychological, that make her characters come alive and maintain their credibility, even in those instances less than credible. . . She is a writer who understands that the first allegiance of fiction is to the imagination."-from the Foreword by Stuart Dybek [close]