The working title of this collection was Pêle-Mêle, a French word that means a quantity of disparate objects put together. There are fifty-three stories here, including some very short ones. This variety witnesses the lushness of Hugues Recamier's imagination.James Peele's foreword states: "In the Time of" is a book where Hugues Recamier creates characters that jump off the page and shake your sensibilities. In the reading process you may laugh, you may cry, but you will most definitely think. Hugues Recamier uses the world as a backdrop to bring out some controversial issues, but still leaves room for you to answer questions.