These stories dramatize the harrowing path from fear or abuse to hope and redemption. Whether mourning miscarried children while caring for a pregnant sister, surviving childhood sexual abuse in the Wisconsin woods, traveling in Italy after the death of a sister, or dealing with a mother's death by torturing a father's new girlfriend, characters confront the strangeness lurking beneath familiar domestic situations. Marianne Herrmann holds a BA from Georgetown University and an MA in English/creative writing from the University of Minnesota. She studied art history at the Florence, Italy, campus of the University of Michigan. This is her first book.