This moving collection by Silman (author of Blood Relations) sifts the intricacies of marriage, parenthood, and family, each played out against an omnipresent shadow of death. Beginning with "Here We Go Again, Alice," Silman plunges into protagonist Joe's overwhelmed psyche upon discovering his impending fatherhood, closely examining his preoccupations—the sight of children on the street, the lingering trauma of his sister's untimely death when they were young, and the burden of secrets he has never shared with his wife. Joe’s inner turmoil sets the stage for a theme that reverberates throughout the collection: the wordless, often unspoken fears and sorrows that barely escape our emotional armature.

Silman eschews grandiose plot twists in favor of more subtle exploration of the natural ebb and flow of family. In the collection’s titular story, readers glimpse the changes that Laura undergoes—a daughter who fears for her dying father, an admirer of her mother’s newfound determination to conquer old phobias, a parent who permits herself to be comforted by her daughter’s wisdom. In other stories, Silman dismantles the illusion of marital transparency, revealing how even the most intimate of relationships fluctuate. “On the Way to Courmayeur” finds a married woman wondering how she and her husband remain “very close, yet with each passing year he becomes more and more mysterious,” while “Scent of Lilacs” follows Dinah as she contemplates “the range of feelings [and] the highs and lows” of marriage to her now deceased husband, Daniel.

Through vignettes of her remarkable leads, Silman brings out the mundane moments that define a life—family vacations, befriending neighbors, coping with divorce, and building a new life after widowhood. These stories, conveyed with tenderness and compelling insight, resonate for their foundation in the ordinary, mirroring life’s fears, hopes, and silent struggles. Silman navigates the core of being human, with an authentic, captivating message—to hold out for love in the end.

Takeaway: Tender stories probing the intricacies of relationships, family life, and love.

Comparable Titles: Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Alice Munro's Life.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A