Danticat is one of those writers who believes in writing about the unspeakable and the uncomfortable. This book is no exception. True to form, she explores many difficult topics in these eight stories about relationships both intimate and social. Danticat's razor-sharp eye misses very little of the darker aspects of human nature and her masterful prose renders it all with humanity and empathy. To read one of her short stories is to immerse ourselves wholly into the most essential emotions that we may avoid in our daily lives. But doing so in this manner enriches and enlightens us so that we are able to return to the everyday and mundane with freshly-laden perspectives of what it means to love, be loved, lose, live, and die.