Ninah, in a constant search for truth in the past, asks her Nanna to tell her stories. Stories about Nanna's childhood, about Grandpa Herman before he became a religious zealot, etc. Obviously, Nanna realizes just how bad a story teller she is. Nanna couldn't story-tell her way out of a paper sack, not the way Sheri Reynolds writes her. With few words, it gives insight to characters, their actions, what they have done, what they might do.
Dialogue adds rhythm, it adds voice, it keeps the story moving.
Then dialogue becomes bulky, bland, and forced and loses that which makes dialogue an effective tool for writers. Somewhere along the way we must have lost it, some of it, anyhow. But it's easy enough to find. In music, at parties, in churches, on the streets, in your own head. Take a step outside, Ms. Reynolds.