When Watched: Stories

"A striking debut. . . . Core is a master raconteur. . . . Entrancing, subtle, and tragically poetic." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Full of dazzling insight and empathy." — Refinery 29 A sly, provocative, and psychologically astute debut story collection from a 2015 Whiting Award winner In Leopoldine Core's stories, you never know where you are going to end up. Populated by sex workers and artists, lovers and friends, her characters are endlessly striving to understand each other. And while they may seem to operate at the margins, there is something eminently relatable, even elemental about their romantic relationships, their personal demons, and the strange shapes their joy can take. Refreshing, witty, and absolutely close to the heart, Core's twenty stories, set in and around New York City, have an other-worldly quality along with a deep seriousness—even a moral seriousness. What we know of identity is smashed...