[3] The collection received generally positive reviews from critics and was selected as a finalist for the Quebec Writers' Federation's McAuslan First Book Prize.

[4] The stories feature people's relics from their past: a postcard from Vienna, the cigarette burns that scar a boy's chest, a stolen USB pen, blue concentration camp numbers tattooed on a forearm, a man's sense of his own body as HIV overtakes him.

Jim Bartley, of The Globe and Mail, said, "The writing in Alice Zorn's debut collection begins with the creative act itself.

A story of fractious love spun in new directions by the challenges of a holiday in Tunisia, it blends shimmering visuals with a nuanced probing of yawning cultural divides.

"[6] Sue Karp, of Vue Weekly, said, "Zorn's style exemplifies the philosophy of writing that shows rather than tells, and leaves the reader to deduce the motivations of the characters.