The stories in this book are about women: passionate, intelligent, eccentric women, all of whom in their own way are struggling to find meaning, overcome grief, and become, somehow, more fully alive - whether intellectually, emotionally, or sexually. One of them is obsessed with irrigating a desert, another with a baby she has lost, a third seeks redemption and love through dangerous sex. One woman hasn't left her house in twenty years, another falls in love with her rabbi, while yet another, after a year of mourning, begins returning to the world through singing aloud a prayer. These women are memorable for their individuality, their vividness, and their emotional and psychological depth - as are these stories, all of them beautifully written, poetic, and powerful.
