First published 2002
A twelve-year-old girl tends her vegetable garden while chaos erupts inside her house, where adults circle each other with dangerous attraction. She represents the women who populate these Michigan stories, characters who work hard and sometimes drink harder as they face down brutality with surprising resilience. A self-sufficient farmer loses her leg before she can reconcile with her estranged daughters. A young woman confronts her dead mother's lesbian lover for the first time. These protagonists live without safety nets or the right kind of love, making do in shabby circumstances that mix beauty with harshness. Their children often turn to animals for the guidance adults cannot provide, finding wisdom in dogs, cows, and gorillas. Campbell sets these tales in small Michigan towns where train wrecks happen alongside circus acts, where river journeys lead to unexpected transformations. The stories refuse to romanticize poverty while revealing how wisdom and brutality occupy the same spaces. Women emerge as both dangerous and fragile, creating moments of unexpected humor and optimism even when life strips away their illusions.
Genres: fiction, short-stories, literary-fiction, contemporary, womens-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Setting: Michigan
Period: 20th-century
208 pages · Paperback · Scribner
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence