The Outlines of Our Warm Bodies

Pat Jasper collects memories, peels off their labels, gives them a good wash, and transforms them into insights. She focuses on the "small close spaces" of the family -- on domestic relationships, crises, and patterns, on coming to terms with time and its power to destroy and to heal. Whether inspired by incidents or by objects infused with emotion, Jasper demonstrates a remarkably strong narrative voice, excelling as a storyteller who carefully unravels the yarn of a woman's life.