The loosely linked stories read, "almost like a novel", with characters whose lives are given form by the past but undergo change as the world reshapes beliefs and circumstances. This collection is a blend of memory, fable, and trauma that examines profound moments in which the conflict might be subtle or camouflaged but the consequences are real. A Keatsian, "mansion of many apartments", the stories combine to offer a broad narrative on how the people once known as the quiet in the land have evolved, and are evolving.