The holidays are always hard--especially for families that still fight their ancient battles every Christmas. This year, Tom is determined not to let his parents ruin his trip to visit them both by spending all their time condemning each other. His parents, though, might have different plans. Will Tom survive Christmas? Will he find the strength to make some plans for the future? Or will this holiday find him as beaten down by his family and afraid to commit as every previous one? Minuet won the William Faulkner Pirate's Alley Prize for Fiction.