Each of the flawed, fully human characters we meet in these twelve stories faces a moment of life-altering transformation. Most are newcomers to the scenic, rolling countryside of central Texas whose charms they romanticize, even as the troubles they hoped to leave behind persist. A young pianist struggles to keep her emotionally fragile boyfriend alive; a displaced New Yorker's ambivalence with guns results in two fractured families; an oil man gambles on his estranged daughter's integrity. The complicated history of this German-Czech region, where the stories are set, anchors the experience of two young artists who make a costly decision in 1862. In graceful and precise, often lyrical, prose, Fraser Hale immerses us in lives whose superficial privilege provides no real protection against the unexpected. About author(s): BABETTE FRASER HALE's short fiction has won the Meyerson Award from Southwest Review , a creative artist award from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, and was recognized among the "other distinguished stories" in Best American Short Stories , 2015. She lives in central Texas and Houston with her husband and large, often muddy, dog.