A poignant collection of short stories delving into themes of loss, alienation and the complexities of contemporary life. The book comprises 11 stories that span over 14 years of Li’s writing.

Other stories in the collection explore diverse experiences of grief and connection. In Alone Suchen, a woman who survived a teenage suicide pact, finds an unexpected bond with a stranger, illustrating the quiet comfort found in shared understanding . When We Were Happy We Had Other Names follows Jiayu, a mother coping with her son’s suicide by creating a spreadsheet of everyone she has known who has died, reflecting on the overwhelming nature of loss.

In Yiyun Lis stories, people strive for an ordinary existence until doing so becomes unsustainable, until the surface cracks and the grand mysterious forcesdeath, violence, estrangementcome to light. And even everyday life is laden with meaning, studded with indelible details: a filched jar of honey, a mound of wounded ants, a photograph kept hidden for many years, until it must be seen.

Finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.