One of the weirdest things about this short story collection is how it captured a feeling of intense nostalgia that resonated. I'm not from rural Manitoba and very little about the experiences in this collection matched my own. But, despite that, the authenticity captured in Laurence's writing resonated deeply.

I'm incredibly fond of bildungsroman literary short fiction—spent most of high school reading it—and Laurence's work exists in the upper echelons of the genre. Its sombre, reflective tone and naturalistic characters made this collection a joy to read.