by Lauren Groff
First published 2026
A young woman finds herself caring for her disabled sibling when responsibility crashes into her life without warning. A high school swimmer with a volatile temper searches for guidance from adults who may not have the answers. A mother loses her family and stumbles through darkness, unable to see past her grief. A banking heir discovers his inheritance carries burdens he never expected. These characters and others populate Lauren Groff's nine stories, each one caught between opposing forces within themselves. Love pulls them forward while fear holds them back. Good intentions from others create new obstacles. They attempt to make right choices as long as possible, but survival demands different calculations. Set across multiple decades from the 1950s through today, the collection moves from New England to Florida to California. Each story captures moments when people must choose between compassion and violence, between reason and raw instinct. The characters fight internal battles between their animal nature and higher aspirations.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, found-family
Setting: California, Florida, New England
Period: 1950s, 21st-century
288 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: depression, mental-illness