<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>On Christmas Eve, a girl stalks an older man through wintery city streets, haunted by their shared past; in a remote woodland cottage, an eccentric explains to his granddaughter why he shoots cats whenever they make themselves too comfortable; in a checkout queue, a woman suddenly shows charity to a penniless guy she seemingly doesn’t know. The characters in this collection are all, in their own way, evading something, whether failing to confront the true nature of an encounter or avoiding responsibilities as a parent, sibling, or friend. Abuse, betrayal, and neglect lurk beneath a veneer of mutually maintained “normality,” waiting for an opportunity to resurface. Told, in most cases, through the eyes of teenage girls or young women, these stories exhibit a unique prose style that perfectly captures the conversational rhythms—and preoccupations—of a generation.