Beautiful short stories, very carefully written, by a woman who has won several prizes. In one of these stories, Binocular Vision, a girl spies on her neighbours with a pair of binoculars. She watches them in close-up. She assumes they are a couple; later, we find out two quite unexpected things about them. Pearlman might be saying: you can’t understand life just by watching closely; it’s stranger than you think. In Unravished Bride, a couple fall in love, then something you think will happen doesn’t happen. There’s a haunting story about three old people that ends in death. But in a twisty way. Pearlman deserves the accolades.
