The Kissing List
This invigorating debut collection follows a group of young women searching for fulfillment in life and love. The more notable of the loosely interlinked stories follow the relationships of flighty, headstrong Sylvie, from her life as an Oxford graduate student kissing nearly anyone in sight to a relationship-weary New Yorker. In the tender Roommates, Sylvie shares an apartment with friend-of-a-friend Laurie, who is battling cancer. As Sylvie’s relationship with an older doctor becomes muddled, Laurie’s relationship with an ex-boyfriend completely dissolves, forcing the two women to acknowledge their unsettled desires. Games finds 28-year-old Sylvie fraught with jealousy on a vacation during which her boyfriend’s affections waver. Other standouts include Animal Cruelty, in which a young woman escapes to her family’s remote cabin to mull over her unplanned pregnancy. As the cabin becomes increasingly overrun with mice, her struggle to come to terms with her situation grows frenetic. The dreamlike Disquisition of Tears follows a house visit of a headless woman. Reents’ witty narratives highlight the nuances of her characters’ desires and hesitations. --Leah Strauss