The slice-of-life short stories explore the dark moments of human nature, the fleeting nature of love, and the complexity of companionships. The narratives are melancholic in nature as they only dwell on a portion of a character’s life that has no definite finality. It delves into the disappointments of life that arise from domesticity, erosion of love, marital strains, and iniquities. The characters are experiencing a moment in their life that brings clarity or confusion to their lives up to that juncture. Therefore the minimalist approach to the stories offers a glimpse into the nature of man besides the mundane things in life. They focus on substance abuse specifically alcoholism and also infidelity as a catalyst to these moments of epiphany or existential crises.
The main focus is the troubled relationships and loneliness in marital relationships that showcases the fleeting nature of love. In that, the idea of love in its initial stages countered by the realities of marriage and life in general. Thus the story explores the burden of love and the loss that takes place as a consequence. The stories also highlight the moral ambiguity that arises from inept choices either through action or inaction on their part. Accordingly, they revolve around losing or seeking purpose in a life that feels hopeless and empty at that moment. The characters’ choices are at the center of it all as they contribute to the damage they are attempting to resolve or justify.
The stories are for the most part family tragedies that showcase broken relationships and emotional turmoil. In “Gazebo” the disintegration of a marriage is explored as the characters grapple with the realities about love. Their opposing stances in their quarrel highlight the push and pull of whether dying love is salvageable. Duane holds the idea of rekindling love even after infidelity whilst Holly has a more realistic take on that illusion. “So Much Water So Close to Home” further delves into the marital relationship by tackling issues on trust and communication. It showcases how emotions and mistrust fester to the point of resentment. Moreover handles the question of morality and how emotional turmoil fosters the lack of moral certainty. The brief nature of the stories that only focus on the conflicts allows the reader to speculate on the lives of the characters before and after.
