Genni Gunn

From the accomplished author of Tracing Iris comes a mesmerizing collection about yearning, vice and the dark side of love. The stories in Hungers expose the voids in our hearts and the potential hostility beneath the calm surface of our most intimate relationships. The savage Aztec god Tezcalipoca, who set people against one another and created anguish and disquiet, presides over many of Hungers' characters. The linked quintet of stories that ends the book eloquently captures this particular kind of discord, showing two sisters whose relationship is so anguished that reconciliation is impossible -- yet the love between them persists. Here are beautifully controlled and crafted stories about the uncontrollable and ungovernable forces in our lives.