"Freeman is not afraid to linger in disquiet. The eleven individual stories tell of many kinds of heartache, more than it would seem a slim volume could hold. . . [She] makes visible lives that are often hidden in plain sight." --Carol Iaciofano Aucoin, WBUR Arts & Culture

"Searing. . . . While Freeman's prose has many virtues--she's masterful on a line level and utilizes effective narrative techniques in each story--it's her ability to highlight how lonely it is to not truly be seen that makes Sleeping Alone so remarkable."--Rachel León, Chicago Review of Books

"Delicate and vital. . . . Freeman's charisma shines on each page of these beautiful stories. This is a treasure."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[Sleeping Alone] methodically strips away the intricate layers of privilege, revealing the sometimes-sinister truth that no one is ever truly safe, regardless of societal status. . . . Each story is tightly structured and aimed to pierce through the reader's own sense of stability. . . . Deceptively disturbing, deeply felt, and original."--Kirkus Reviews

"Set around the world and grappling with themes of race and class, Freeman's stories work precisely because they are full of the drama and the ordinariness of life. Here is proof that there is tragedy and beauty in the everyday; you just have to know where to look."--Poornima Apte, Booklist, starred review

"Sleeping Alone presents us with a deftly rendered cross-section of contemporary society."--Megan V. Luebberman, Zyzzyva

"A collection of marvels. Every story of Sleeping Alone feels vivid and intimate, boldly mining the complicated intersections between the global and the local in exquisite prose. Freeman is a writer of remarkable talent and ferocity, and it's breathtaking to see her working at the height of her powers."--Tania James, author of The Tusk That Did the Damage

These deftly controlled stories almost prickle the skin with their secrets, with the shame and longing and injustice, both personal and structural, that is revealed. But they also contain an exhilarating beauty, what feels like the charged breath of life. Sleeping Alone is a collection that left me awestruck and also immediately wanting to go back and reread it for the depths I knew I had barely begun to find within its pages. Ru Freeman is an author of rare genius."--Mary South, author of You Will Never Be Forgotten

"Stand in the doorway of these beautiful stories and admire for a moment the architecture of how they have invited you in. Then step fully inside into a textured world of borders breached, lands left behind, new territories discovered, families remembered, and vistas uncovered. These stories cross and criss-cross the world, making it tiny and epic at the same time. Dublin, Philadelphia, Maine, Sri Lanka, New York, they are all here, and we, as readers, are all there. Ru Freeman captures the moment when the thorn enters the skin, and then she leads us forward towards healing. A great collection from one of the best and most necessary voices of our times."--Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon