A husband’s wife transforms into a canid in “Mrs. Fox,” winner of the BBC National Short Story Award. In “Case Study 2” a social worker struggles with a foster child raised in a commune. A new mother runs into an old lover in “Luxury Hour.” Set in the hinterland between the mundane and surreal, and marked by a fascination with the intimacy of nature—and the nature of intimacy—these nine astonishing stories will resonate long after the final page is turned.