Prose has assembled here a collection of her stories which dissect at seemingly functional lives, for what an outsider would take as such. In the tradition of Cheever, she allows us to see into the nagging conscious of a character to see what is probably true of all our lives, nothing is certain, nothing is easy and no heart is wholly at peace. Well written, momentarily evocative but, sadly, not lasting. I am still trying to figure out exactly why Hawthorne's minister is wearing a black veil and what the wife in a Peter Taylor story is going to do about her cheating husband. I still won't buy yellow roses thanks to Faulkner's murderess Emily. I read those stories at least thirty years ago. However, these stories were gone within a day for me. Or, maybe they will boomerang back into my brain at some point. We'll see. ( )

Prose has assembled here a collection of her stories which dissect at seemingly functional lives, for what an outsider would take as such. In the tradition of Cheever, she allows us to see into the nagging conscious of a character to see what is probably true of all our lives, nothing is certain, nothing is easy and no heart is wholly at peace. Well written, momentarily evocative but, sadly, not lasting. I am still trying to figure out exactly why Hawthorne's minister is wearing a black veil and what the wife in a Peter Taylor story is going to do about her cheating husband. I still won't buy yellow roses thanks to Faulkner's murderess Emily. I read those stories at least thirty years ago. However, these stories were gone within a day for me. Or, maybe they will boomerang back into my brain at some point. We'll see. ( )

Prose has assembled here a collection of her stories which dissect at seemingly functional lives, for what an outsider would take as such. In the tradition of Cheever, she allows us to see into the nagging conscious of a character to see what is probably true of all our lives, nothing is certain, nothing is easy and no heart is wholly at peace. Well written, momentarily evocative but, sadly, not lasting. I am still trying to figure out exactly why Hawthorne's minister is wearing a black veil and what the wife in a Peter Taylor story is going to do about her cheating husband. I still won't buy yellow roses thanks to Faulkner's murderess Emily. I read those stories at least thirty years ago. However, these stories were gone within a day for me. Or, maybe they will boomerang back into my brain at some point. We'll see. ( )