First published 2025
A young woman seeks secret words to prevent pregnancy. A mother finds an unknown child living in her house, somehow erased from memory. Parents float in orbital globes, cut off from their son on Earth. Karen E. Bender crafts thirteen stories that follow families as they drift apart across life's stages. Her characters navigate adolescence, motherhood, empty nests, and caring for aging parents in settings that range from recognizable American suburbs to dystopian futures. Each separation carries its own weight. Teenagers push against boundaries while parents struggle to hold on. Adult children watch their parents fade. The stories examine how control shifts between generations, how power changes hands, and how love persists even when connection breaks. Bender finds the surreal within ordinary family tensions, using speculative elements to illuminate the emotional reality of letting go.
Genres: short-stories, family, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, letting-go
304 pages · Hardcover · Counterpoint