A debut collection from a deeply original writer and observer of love, betrayal, and turning points in ordinary peoples' lives. In a raw seacoast cabin, a young woman watches her boyfriend go out with his brother, late one night, on a mysterious job she realizes she isn't supposed to know about. A man gets a call at work from his sister-in-law, saying that his wife and his daughter never made it to nursery school that day. A mother learns that her teenage daughter has told a teacher about problems in her parents' marriage that were meant to be private--problems the mother herself tries to ignore. McLaughlin conveys these characters so vividly that readers will feel they are experiencing real life. Often the stories turn on a single, fantastic moment of clarity--after which nothing can be the same.

The art of foot-binding --Those that I fight I do not hate -- All about Alice -- Along the heron-studded river -- Night of the silver fox -- Not oleanders -- Silhouette -- A different country -- The smell of dead flowers -- In the act of falling -- Dinosaurs on other planets.