Set in the small towns and outlands of the American West, Claire Davis's fiction has been praised as some of the truest, most affecting prose about this region in decades. This collection demonstrates the breadth of her talent, insight, and empathy. 'Adultery' follows a middle-aged man who learns that his mother is cheating on her husband. A farmer's marriage is unsettled by a disturbing find on his property in 'Trash.' And in the title story, a lonely man is struck by love for a woman he sees at the supermarket.

The stories in Labors of the Heart, Davis's first collection after the novels Season of the Snake and Winter Range, trace the hidden longings of seemingly stoic people, seeking out the rifts and ruptures in their quiet lives.