Witching hour -- Feeding the lions -- Away from the woodsman -- Ichthyophobe -- One candle left -- Laughter and caprice -- Queen of the Nile -- Reporting for duty, 1959 -- Know the mother -- Princess Lily -- Cartoon blue -- Night coming -- Mourning chair -- Ceiling -- Origins of sacrifice -- In the Ginza -- Home for the holidays -- Fifteen items or less -- Soft landing -- Something falls in the night -- Leftovers -- On the rim -- The disappearing girl -- Graveyard love -- Nocturne -- Postbellum love story -- Second sleep -- To the bone -- Requiem for a dress -- Open sky -- The massage.

Author Desiree Cooper explores the complex archetype of the mother in all of her incarnations. In a collage of meditative stories, women find themselves wedged between their own yearnings and their roles as daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and wives. With her lyrical and carefully crafted prose, Cooper's stories provide truths without sermon and invite empathy without sentimentality.

Description based on print version record.