Named a must-read/must-listen by the Chicago Tribune, O Magazine, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and The L Magazine.

Rebecca Makkai’s first two novels, The Borrower and The Hundred-Year House, have established her as one of the freshest and most imaginative voices in fiction. Now, the award-winning writer, whose stories have appeared in four consecutive editions of The Best American Short Stories, returns with a highly anticipated collection bearing her signature mix of intelligence, wit, and heart. 

A reality show producer manipulates two contestants into falling in love, even as her own relationship falls apart. Just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a young boy has a revelation about his father’s past when a renowned Romanian violinist plays a concert in their home. When the prized elephant of a traveling circus keels over dead, the small-town minister tasked with burying its remains comes to question his own faith. In an unnamed country, a composer records the folk songs of two women from a village on the brink of destruction. 

These transporting, deeply moving stories - some inspired by her own family history - amply demonstrate Makkai’s extraordinary range as a storyteller and confirm her as a master of the short-story form. 

“Richly imagined.” (Chicago Tribune)

“Impressive.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)

“Engrossing.” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

“Inventive.” (W Magazine)