Soili Smith’s Your Children Are Not Your Own pours out thick and slow. “Like molasses in winter” my mother would say, quoting her mother, and a million other mothers. Take your time with this story about mothers and fathers and siblings. Family, in all its aching imperfection. Its brutality will make you catch your breath, as will its pathos.

And speaking of breath, I suggest reading this story aloud. Your Children Are Not Your Own feels influenced by the oral storytelling tradition—something to be presented around a communal fire or, if it’s all you’ve got, the cold glow of your iPhone. I think Michael and Cherie would appreciate the contradiction.

Read Your Children Are Not Your Own on Joyland Vancouver

Enjoy, and many thanks to Soili Smith. Follow Soili on Twitter @Soili12