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Like a troupe of finely trained ballerinas, the beautifully crafted fictions of Joann Kobin's new novel-in-stories Woman Made of Sand perform their intricate steps as they weave themselves together in a seamless work of aching beauty. Graceful and subtle, unflinchingly honest, the novel accompanies the lives of Harriet and Philip, and their children, as their relationships dissolve and as they then battle to survive the complex configurations of their old and new families coming -- and crashing -- together. Whether in the novel's funny and poignant "Rain, " in which the hope for family unity unravels at Phillip's father's funeral, or in the exquisitely choreographed final story, "Discipline and Will, " in which the expectations of three generations hang precariously on the outcome of a single ballet performance, these fictions embrace one another, taking on a wholeness -- a significance -- that is lasting, their power unforgettable.

• January 2012 Indie Next List
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• November 2011 Indie Next List