This book of short stories features a variety of characters, from women who are poor, to those who are wealthy, in good marriages, or difficult marriages, with children, without children - the whole gamut. In one of the stories, there is a pair of sisters, who have been inseparable ever since they were abducted as children. In another, a woman who is married to a man with a twin brother pretends not to realize when he and the brother periodically change places.
These are just a few examples of the stories here. I found that some of the stories really stuck with me, while others were forgettable (and one or two were pretty strange). One of the ones I liked is "North County," about a woman who moves to Upper Michigan for a job and has difficulty leaving her past behind. I also liked the story about the woman married to the man with a twin brother. Some of the stories are strange, like "I Am a Knife," and "Baby Arm," but the one thing that really ties all of the stories together is that these women all feel very real, even though they are all so different. And many of them are difficult, in one way or another, even if "difficult" means "hard to like" or "hard to understand." I had been waiting weeks to get this book from the library, since I have read other books and stories by Roxane Gay and had enjoyed them. I don't know if I'd want to re-read this entire book of stories again, but I can see revisiting some of the stories at some point.
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