Grounded in both the contemporary United States and a variety of dystopias, the new stories in Karen E. Bender's third collection examine the evolving dynamics of the nuclear family in adolescence, motherhood, the empty nest, and caring for the aging parent. From a young woman who wants to learn secret words to terminate a pregnancy to a mother who discovers an extra child in her home she had forgotten about, to a couple separated from their son in globes orbiting the Earth, to society's terrible plan to leave the burning planet for a life on Mars, the stories honour the emotional force of these situations by grappling with themes of freedom, self-definition, youth, aging, control, and power. Bender's work explores the ordinary in the extraordinary, using settings both familiar and fantastic to discover new truths in the lifelong connection between parents and their children.
