An immaculate conception triggers an armed response. A mother chases away her son's imaginary friend, only to lament her absence. A new hire, visited by his company's wellness consultant, feels his sanity unraveling. A Norwich terrier recounts three generations of family trauma, unaware that he is on the way to be put down.

The thirteen stories of this follow-up to Breath Like the Wind at Dawn, "Jacobsen's astonishing debut" (Alastair Mabbott, The Herald), unfold across an array of settings and times, shifting fluidly between registers and vernaculars to explore loss in its myriad forms and along the way unearthing empathy for characters who range from endearing to indefensible.