First published 2015
Emily watches her world collapse as secrets tear through her family. An affair surfaces, pregnancy complications arise, and drug use spreads among the teenagers in her circle. While adults navigate betrayal and mothers pray their daughters never bear children who might die, Emily retreats into fantasies of becoming an insect. Her anorexia becomes another form of disappearing. Meanwhile, other lives intersect in unexpected ways. A cruise ship passenger discovers a stowaway hiding among the luxury and excess. A woman named Sonny confronts the terrible mathematics of loving children in a world where loss seems inevitable. Each character searches for connection while struggling with isolation. Pearlman follows these individuals through moments that seem small but carry enormous weight. The stories reveal how people survive daily heartbreak and find unexpected grace. Emily's desire to transform into something else reflects a universal wish to escape human vulnerability, yet the collection ultimately shows how beauty emerges from accepting that fragility.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
277 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use, pregnancy-loss