“Superior fiction. Forget the flashy epiphany, the Kodak moment. Kalotay prefers the glancing accumulation of detail, which pays off to impressive effect.” —Los Angeles Times

“Kalotay’s collection builds force so quietly that when all the characters appear together in the final story you’re stunned—by how well it works and by how familiar these women now feel.” —New York Times Book Review

“Like short-story collections by Alice Munro and Lorrie Moore . . . Lovely [and] comic.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“[A] delicately graceful debut. . . . Capturing her characters at different stages in their lives, Kalotay artfully crafts her book around their metamorphoses, both big and small.” —Publishers Weekly

“Contemplative, melancholy, yet not without humor, these are well-made fictions on a delicate scale that subtly demonstrate such truths as the persistence of character and the endurance of friendship.” —The Boston Globe

“Compassion is at the heart of Kalotay’s polished stories, as are a subtle sense of humor and appreciation for the complexities of human emotion.” —Booklist

“Daphne Kalotay’s stories … are old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, plainspoken and melancholy, about ordinary people struggling with the trials of ordinary life. Few writers I know speak … with such clear-eyed compassion, such quiet humor and grace.” —Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer PrizeÐwinning author of Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake

“Daphne Kalotay’s characters are unique, flesh-and-blood New Englanders, people you often find yourself rooting forÉ. [Her] collection of short stories is well-worth reading.” —Charleston Post and Courier

“Poignant and splendid stories… [Kalotay] makes it easy for us to identify with the connections and relationships that she has created because they feel genuine and palpable.” —Lancaster Times & Clinton Courier

“These stories, simply told and insightful, make for entertaining reading….” —The Sunday Oklahoman