PositiveThe Toronto Star...simply a collection of powerful, sometimes infuriating, often sad and always gentle stories about American women, with no apparent agenda ... Two other stories about women who’ve lost children are staggeringly heartbreaking; both women blaming themselves for the tragedies ... Gay’s writing is powerful; by turns gentle and angry, she is able to get at many truths about men and women, about relationships. The collection would have been stronger, however, without men in every story. Even in stories where women aren’t involved with men, those male relationships often take on an importance that the stories don’t require. I’d rather have seen her explore other relationships — with their children, parents, health, jobs — on their own, without a male figure in the background ... Gay’s book is a wonderful and varied collection of stories, with a terrific range of subjects and emotions giving it just the right balance.
