In Life Without Death, the latest short story collection from Peter Unwin, ordinary men and women search for meaning in lives subject to change, chance, coincidence, and catastrophe.

A man recalls a lifetime of love and loss while copying contacts out of his old little black book. A woman is left her dying father’s secret stash of pornography, and is entrusted with the unenviable task of disposing of it. A new father unexpectedly discovers a way of connecting to his autistic son. For one day, guests to a wedding set aside their various past misdeeds in order to celebrate a young couple’s union. A teenager newly introduced to a life of petty crime suddenly finds himself in way over his head. A man’s former acquaintance resurfaces decades later as the subject of a haunting art film.

Unwin’s characters live full, complex lives within each story. Though they may not find the simple answers they seek, if such answers even exist, they-and readers-gain something farmore valuable on their journeys: perspective.