A Fine Layer of Dust deals with the stressors that rip a seemingly perfect family apart. Sophia has a great career at a museum while Jake is a lawyer chasing an elusive promotion to senior partner. To achieve that, he’s spending long days away from his wife and teenaged daughter. When his wife decides to become a surrogate mother and carry a pregnancy for a couple unable to have children, he’s not sure how that will affect their lives but gives his reluctant consent. Emily, their daughter, immediately becomes excited and begins a photographic documentation of the pregnancy. Things take a nosedive when they learn that the baby is due in mid June. June has always been a month in which nothing good has happened in Jake’s life, and the date alone sends him into an emotional tailspin due to a family secret he’s been forced to keep since childhood. Add to that bad decisions he makes along the way, and he soon finds himself telling more and more lies.
Told from the perspective of a flawed male, it’s full of gut-wrenching emotions and is beautifully written. That said, it seemed that the plot relies a bit heavily on coincidence and eavesdropping to achieve its goals.
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A Fine Layer of Dust (Red Adept Publishing, October 6, 2025) is available through:
Your local independent bookseller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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You can read my review of Conrey’s other works here:
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