Lily King collects ten short stories focused on the hopes, dreams, and heartaches of characters. Told in the voices of characters of all ages, these tales explore desire and heartache, loss and discovery, moments of violence, and the tug toward love. A bookseller's unspoken love for his employee rises to the surface, a neglected teenage boy finds nurturing from a pair of college students hired to housesit, a girl's loss of innocence at the hands of her employer's son becomes a catalyst for strength and confidence, and a proud nonagenarian rages in his granddaughter's hospital room. These stories are about love, some slipping into the surreal.