An epidemic's emotional strain drives among victims a stoic resolve to conceal their disability. A mother retreats inside herself, disarmed by the steps of a building she sees. A neighbor's drooping, palsied cheek belies the expression on the other cheek. A father conceals that he cannot read, and a son struggles with crippling guilt, having been acquitted of a crime he did commit. Stirring and elegant, Keeping What's Best Left Kept Secret probes the force of untold secrets on the daily business of making do. In these stories, David Ricchiute uncovers deception teeming with self-deception, and the final returns have much to do with the accidental chemistry of fate.