Whether set in a cottage or a Montreal market, a graveyard or a backyard, these stories transport readers into the lives of people they’ll recognize. We may not have neighbors who want to make squirrels into pets or sell us a piece of the moon; our son may not have been asked to donate sperm to his girlfriend’s mother; our sister may not want us to bring a dead cat across the border; we may not have an imaginary husband, a secret brother, or a friend who’s turned to murder in a custody battle. But in each of these stories, people are trying to figure out how to live in a world that doesn’t always seem hospitable.