Baby in a Box: Stories

Synopsis

In this dazzling debut collection, Sarah Braunstein introduces a cast of people whose ordinary lives are suddenly unsettled by unexpected encounters, impossible decisions, and quietly absurd turns of fate. A waitress learns a startling confession from a regular customer. A motel housekeeper hides an impossible secret. A grieving teenager navigates loss through eBay. Elsewhere, parents, lovers, and strangers stumble through moments of connection, misunderstanding, and reinvention, revealing the fragile stories people construct to make sense of their lives.

Darkly funny, compassionate, and psychologically astute, Baby in a Box explores caregiving, family, desire, loneliness, and the strange ways our lives intersect. Braunstein's stories are populated by flawed but deeply human characters whose moments of awkwardness, tenderness, and quiet revelation linger long after the final page. Sharp, original, and emotionally resonant, this remarkable collection confirms Braunstein as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary literary fiction.

About the Author

Sarah Braunstein is an American novelist and short story writer. She is the author of The Sweet Relief of Missing Children and Bad Animals, and her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and The Best American Short Stories. A recipient of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 award, she teaches creative writing at Colby College in Maine. Baby in a Box is her first story collection.

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Publication Date

June 9, 2026

Format

Paperback

Pages

224

Subjects

Literary Fiction · Short Stories · Contemporary Fiction · Family · Relationships · Humour

ISBN

9781324051060