A Gate at the Stairs

"Are rabbits nocturnal?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Well, why do you see them in the day as well?"

My father was quiet for a long time. "They work in shifts," he said finally.

I love this extract from A Gate at the Stairs By Lorrie Moore, which I have just finished reading. It is a coming of age story, situated in the American Midwest. Tassie accepts a job as a nanny for the African-American adopted baby of a couple, whose dark past we slowly discover. The story is told from Tassie's point of view and...