Short stories brimming with societal nuance and human complexity offer a penetrating overview of urban Black America near the turn of the 21st century … Nothing seems lost or shortchanged in presenting this panorama of Black lives, whether disparities in social class, creeping gentrification, or the arduous, at times heroic efforts of even the poorest community residents to retain grace, decorum, and some autonomy over their surroundings. Hubbard’s eyes and ears are in superb working order as she tells this besieged community’s life story.
