Super Short Summary

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore follows Tassie Keltjin, a college student at a Midwestern university post-9/11, who takes a job as a nanny for Sarah Brink, a chef, and her husband Edward, who are trying to adopt a biracial child named Mary-Emma. As Tassie bonds with the child and navigates her own relationships and family dynamics, she encounters themes of race, adoption, and personal growth. Topics of child loss and military death are present.