The new collection of short stories by Elena Kotova cracks open windows and peels back curtains to allow us peeks at curious and deceptively simple life within. We discover that days spent behind the bars of a psychiatric clinic in Moscow are no less grotesque than days out window-shopping the glamorous shops of London; that old ladies can dream like young girls; a hardened playboy is surprised to meet his adult daughter; a wife falls in love with her husband at the very moment of a break-up. The compact narratives of the tragic, humorous, and very recognizable life are flavored with a dash of charm and a healthy measure of the absurd.