Refractive Reflections can be read as a self-contained work. It also can be considered the fifth volume in the saga that covers the story of three families ... the Masoud, the Crawford, and the Connelly clans. Five books in all, Oblique Journeys, Palpable Passions, Ordinary Obsessions, Felicitous Fates, and now Refractive Reflections constitute an interrelated set of works that explore the complex evolution of these three distinct families and the rela- tional, political, and philosophical subthemes they embrace or reflect. While these works touch upon the stories of individuals and families, they also bring us deeper into a set of larger issues and challenges common to the human condition. In short, the entire series is multi-layered ... serious in substance, yet oft told with wit and well-paced drama.