relatives once removed: When distance does not rip family fabric

Families often struggle to maintain bonds that are stretched by geographical or emotional distance. Brenda Naomi Herzberg's spare prose explores some of the rougher edges of grandparenting in this gripping collection of stories where distance is a dominant factor. Brian, the second husband, jealous of Felicity's obsessive preoccupation with her granddaughter takes revenge in `'Ski Nanny Granny”. Tom Edwards, a successful Australian surgeon with a rather bloodless private life has his emotional world overthrown when his three year old Eurasian granddaughter comes to visit. Judy from Chicago abhors the brainwashing her grandchildren receive in “Separation Barrier”. Vera is wickedly excluded from the nuclear family when her widowed son-in-law remarries. “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” Jane Howard “Families” "I can't think of anything to write about except families. They are a metaphor for everyother part of society." Anna Quindlen (1953 - )