Dancers on the shore

Several stories in this collection feature characters and locations that also appear in the author's debut novel, A Different Drummer, effectively expanding the literary world established in that book.

The title is derived from a passage in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which the author used to help set the thematic tone for the collection.

An anthology series exists that draws from the stories in this collection, specifically focusing on the lives of the Carey, Dunford, and Bedlow families.