Delving into Lucy Honig's fiction, one is effortlessly and willingly drawn into an intimacy with these resilient, heartbreakingly flawed characters. In each of these nine stories strangers are drawn together in ordinary moments that become extraordinary commentary on the failings and triumphs of the human heart. In Honig's fiction, destitute New Yorkers and determined immigrants are as much at the mercy of social services, media attention, opportunistic politicians, and "quality-of-life" campaigns as they are prey to grinding poverty, dangerous streets, and their own haunting memories....