All human beings struggle to live with our own missteps and transgressions and those of others. In this compelling collection, stories with the depth and resonance of novellas offer a window into the challenging lives of contemporary men and women. From Alec and Mira, children of an unreliable mother, to Naomi and Graham, suburbanites who enter the wilderness of an affair and finally to Trevor, a psychiatrist who is himself a wounded healer. Orbach presents a kaleidoscope of hopes, desires, longings and regrets of people as diverse as they are familiar—people whose quandaries, whether ordinary or extreme, resonate with our own.

When Laura, a young widow, responds just for now to a man who is blind, she is drawn in by his compassionate voice. Matthew, trying to wall himself off from the dangers of deep emotion, finds his underlying fears exposed. Sharon, lunching with an ex-lover, commits a small but telling gesture of revenge. Jess, trying to remake her life, struggles to survive the cost to her children and herself. And Martin, involved in a tragic accident, tries in vain to avoid acknowledging the cost of his own shortcomings. These are men and women seeking love, possibility, compassion—and most of all—the self-forgiveness needed to embrace the future.