Colm Toibin’s latest collection of short stories is a mixed bag. My favorite story is “Silence.” A woman marries an older, richer man. While on trip to Egypt, she has an affair with a poet. Later, back in London, the woman is seated next to Henry James (Toibin adores James) and she tells him a variation of her affair with the old “a friend of mine…” preface. Henry James writes down the details. I also liked “The Pearl Fishers” which is a complicated menage a trois involving the sex lives of students. Some of the stories in The Empty Family explore gay relationships and feature some graphic sex. Toibin is a crafty writer and capable of surprising the reader. Unfortunately, he didn’t do it enough in The Empty Family. GRADE: C+