Displaying a light deftness of touch while highlighting a contorted darkness, these eleven short stories emphasise the more twisted and melancholy side of relationships. Plaintive hearts and minds, often shying away from reality, appear to be continuously searching for that illusive creature happiness. The author has the ability to describe both commitment and deception, with wit, compassion and consideration. Three of the stories contain the same characters, an interesting variation to the other tales that adds a little pop of anticipation as their lives unfold. The title is misleading, however ironic it may feel once you start to read these stories, it also feels strangely sincere.
The wonderful story collection from the author of Standard Deviation ‘Heiny's work does something magical: gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve and makes you laugh along the way’ Lena Dunham ‘Like Cheever mixed with Ephron’ New York Times ‘Simply wonderful, I savoured every page’ Guardian Maya’s dog is dying, and she is planning to leave her boyfriend. On the whole she feels worse about the dog. Nina thought it might be difficult to summon the moral fortitude to have an extramarital affair with a Presbyterian minister living above the garbage, but she discovers that almost anything is possible. A teenager finds an affair with her history teacher too sealed off from the rest of her life, like the last slice of cake under a glass dome. These women are best friends, roommates and mistresses. They tipple and titillate, fantasize and fumble, worry and wander. They make poor choices in men and children’s magicians and wise choices in what to wear to meet their lovers’ wives. None of them are single (or carefree or mellow) but all are irresistible and all too familiar.