The title of this collection hints at its contents—delectable stories with touches of the surreal as well as many plot twists and surprises. From short-short story to novella, each narrative demonstrates mastery of the genre. Frank’s style is tightly controlled and lyrical, yet contains a richness of detail that seamlessly integrates fantasy elements and magic realism. Readers will note the frequent recurrence of themes of abandonment, withdrawal, and disappearance, and characters reappear in person and by reference from story to story. Humor, subtly introduced, lightens weighty subjects. In “The White Coat,” a woman in an unnamed country cultivates another to experience the magic of a coat that makes people in a snowy landscape immune from detection. “A Brief History of Camouflage” introduces a woman whose desire to disappear leads her to epic feats of tailoring. “The Mapmaker” depicts, in a cycle of 18 stories, a daughter’s relationship with the mother who tried to strangle her when she was three. This book will circulate in libraries with readers of literary fiction. — Ellen Loughran