This one hit really hard. Somehow, despite gravitating constantly towards the same core themes, Plett's stories cover the whole range of heartbreak, loss, and redemption. The latter is perhaps the most consistent emotional note in this collection, and may also be why it hits so hard: these are stories of women who are battered but not broken, who have taken tremendous pain from life but still choose to get up and march forward into a new day. They are stories of hope in a world, at a time, that feels devoid of it.