Susan Midalia’s second collection of short stories offers us an compelling variety of characters, all of them ‘travellers’ in search of connection and belonging. Tourists in Moscow and Vienna confronted by the weight of history. A young student teacher discovering her capacity for compassion. A teenage boy defending his mother’s reputation. A brother anguished by his sister’s illness. An ageing widow infatuated with a troubled young man. Conflicts between the silent burdens of the past and the drama of everyday lives. Written with eloquence, grace and emotional generosity, these stories seek understanding rather than judgment, inviting us to reflect on the unspoken longings and regrets that make up who we are.
