In this collection, Randolph’s stories are set in small towns in Nebraska and brim with timeless truths about love, insecurity, and the glue that holds relationships together. In “What She Knows” an unmarried and pregnant 22-year-old struggles with her options until realizing how much she already loves her unborn son, who she knows will have red hair and freckles, and play trombone “with gusto” in his grade-school band. In “Billy” a long-suffering wife’s alcoholic husband dies before she can carry out her brave plan to leave him. Most stories have an obvious main theme and a subtle underlying one, providing an unexpected twist with surprising depth. In “Miss Kielbasa,” for example, Randolph depicts a family’s harried and hilarious participation in the town’s annual drag queen contest; on the periphery lies the daughter’s dread of telling her parents that her new boyfriend is black. From the wife who discovers her husband has a gay lover to the accordion player in a polka band, Randolph gets each and every character just right.