"Equal parts fantastical - a pair of talking dolls help twins escape a stifling home, a heart boils on the stove as part of an elaborate cure for melancholy - and true to life - a mother and daughter try to heal their rift when the daughter falls unexpectedly pregnant, a woman reexamines her father's legacy after his death - the stories in this collection are hopeful and heartbreaking, full of danger and full of joy. Chung is a master at capturing emotion, and her characters - human and otherwise - will claw their way into your heart and make themselves at home"--