Peter Abbot's new collection of short stories explores the manifold meanings and nuances of human sexuality in the contemporary world. Whether sombre, angry, lighthearted, or fanciful, these stories lay bare the desires and fears of the human heart in poignant detail. Abbot draws on some of the themes and topics explored in his previous works Duty, Armistice, and Librarian---the historical memory of the First World War, the weight of duty, the uncertainty of identity---and in the process crafts a collection of tales moving and at times discomfiting.