I've said repeatedly that I am not a fan of short stories, but I have recently read three collections that have been wonderful (the other two were by Jhumpa Lahiri), so it's probably time to revise that statement! Each story in this book is a mini-masterpiece, extremely well-crafted, powerfully subtle and emotionally riveting. Robin Black says it took her eight years to perfect these stories, and that is evident--it is clear that she put time and care into each sentence. The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars is that the last few stories seemed a little repetetive in style and theme to earlier ones. Some of the plots became predictable. Otherwise, I highly recommend these stories and look forward to more from Robin Black.