From a land fraught with political and religious conflict comes this testimony to the survival of the spirit. Engaged politically, but also concerned with issues that confront women throughout the world, the writers in this collection embody in their work the interconnection of the personal and the political, the individual and the social. Their voices, emanating from diverse backgrounds, demonstrate the range and depth of contemporary fiction by Irish women.
“A splendid collection.”
—Antioch Review
“The sexes are as separate in Ireland as in any country in the Western world. Yet, whatever the consequences for Irish women . . . silence is not one of them. This display of Irish women’s writing is a manifestation of the unity of Ireland. From North to South, their voices are rich, witty, earthy, magnificent.”
—Brenda Maddox, author of Nora: A Biography of Nora Joyce
“Many voices have defined the Irish experience, but one voice was never heard: the woman’s voice. This collection proves that it is a voice worth hearing. . . . Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal
“Representative of a literary outpouring by Irish women since the 1960s, these stories are exquisitely realized in a wide range of styles, from realism through satire—elegiac, experimental, lyric, folkish.”
—San Francisco Review of Books
“Short stories have always been the Irish forte. . . . Now this realm has been inherited by dozens of fine women writers. . . . Three or four stories are worth this book on their own, and several moved me to tears—of laughter as well as of pain.”
—San Francisco Chronicle