The Gentle Order of Girls and Boys - Tapa dura

In an evocative portrait of the rites of female passage, a collection of short fiction by the author of Grass Roof, Tin Roof journeys from girlhood and young womanhood to marriage and motherhood, capturing the lives of four young women dealing with the challenges of romance and relationships at different stages in their individual lives.

In this stunning new book, four tales of love and desire reveal the complications of living in a modern global village. In this beautifully written, psychologically astute examination of the rites of female passage, the acclaimed Dao Strom takes us from girlhood to young womanhood, wifehood and motherhood. Told in four sections, each story introduces us to a compelling young woman and the questions before her, set against the jungle and noise of America today. In this elegant rendering of the rites of passage, we meet four unique young women: Mary, a film student in college who is full of yearning but finds herself confounded by the casual give-and-take of the people around her. Darcy, a twenty-something musician, who must confront the dark and unknown in the form of a naked stranger who repeatedly breaks into her ramshackle sublet. Leena, aged thirty, isolated and alone after having been transplanted from Vietnam to Texas through marriage to an American business man. And finally Sage, a new mother in her early thirties who finds herself entertaining thoughts of her son's preschool teacher while on a road trip with her four-year-old boy and his father. With both shrewd insight into the moral perils of contemporary life and unwavering compassion for the missteps we make along the way, "The Gentle Order of Girls and Boys" is a major accomplishment from an exciting new talent.