How You Were Born

“How You Were Born is a stunning collection. These stories are unsettling in the best possible way: tender and pitiless, they take the reader by the hand, by the chin, sometimes even by the throat. Look, they say, this is what it is to be human. This is how strange, how unspeakably beautiful, it can be.” —Alissa York, author of Far Cry

“How You Were Born is a riveting debut story collection that continually surprises with its effortless blend of the psychological, the domestic, and the surreal. Whether she’s exploring the lives of circus performers, over-imaginative children, or an elderly man convinced that his next-door neighbour is his doppelgänger, Kate Cayley teases out unexpected insights, connections, dark secrets, and moments of transcendence.” —Trillium Book Award Jury Citation

“Ghosts, tear gas, doppelgängers, child spies, a dragon tattoo, weddings, mothers, and acrobats—Kate Cayley probes the circus that is the human heart and proves it to be wild and eccentric, big, and sometimes aching, often bursting with wisdom. Every scene is vivid; every character flesh and blood present. Every story in How You Were Born is delicately crafted, full of drama, epiphany, and strong emotion. Cayley’s prose flashes with insight—transparent and true. Here is new life.” —Lisa Moore

“Cayley shows us, in How You Were Born, that the impulse to collect and then work through anxiety imaginatively is important and powerful.”—Cleaver Magazine

“Cayley’s collection is a series of tautly written, gripping tales full of emotional intelligence, especially when it comes to children’s relationships.” —NOW Magazine

“Kate Cayley’s story collection, How You Were Born, is an ideal literary companion. Slimish, perfectly packaged, each story its own realized vision.” —Pickle Me This