Melanie Rae Thon's new short story collection explores the themes of love, guilt, grief, and redemption. Thon's brilliant lyrical prose transcends the gritty mundane into spiritual timelessness. Most of these stories are old favorites gathered into one volume. There are, however, a few new gems which I devoured.

In the short story, "Confessions of Raymond Good Bird," Thon's use of word choice paints a portrait of a man delivered from his earthly sins to eternal life in love. Thon describes Raymond's scarred face as "a face to love: without love, there was no way to look at you." When Raymond returns home after a twenty-two year absence, Thon describes the homecoming as "a song inside you." The family rejoices like the Biblical father in the tale of the prodigal son. No matter how many people Raymond killed during the Vietnam War, he was forgiven for "blessed was the God who hears, who had kept you alive and sustained you and delivered you whole to this moment." When Raymond dies, his soul is delivered not to Hell but into the arms of the Vietnamese mother whom he killed during the war. This Vietnamese mother becomes "the mother of God." In her arms, both she and Raymond find "only comfort." That is true deliverance. ( )