This Is How You Start to Disappear

This Is How You Start to Disappear is a new collection of engaging, tension-filled stories interested in the ways we don't understand each other and how we respond to each other, especially in the midst of change, loss, betrayal, and trauma. Focusing on relationships, especially among family members, between romantic partners or spouses, and between friends, Astrid Blodgett's stories explore the long-term consequences of grief and denial and the single moments that change perceptions, lives, and attachments forever. Crisp prose and unexpected plot twists move relatable characters through vivid outdoor settings and interior depths, orbiting feelings, consent, and care for themselves and one another. A child negotiates adult behaviour when an injured dog is put down. An older sister bribes a younger one to go on her first date. A family canoe trip launches from Disaster Point. A woman wants to hurl her granddaughter's birthday cake out the window. This Is How You Start to Disappear shows all the heartbreaking ways we diminish and evolve when coping with change or trauma.