You might expect, from long experience, that this anthology - would include only English writers, but thankfully it is not so. Irish, New Zealand and even German (Christa Wolf) storytellers are drawn upon, the Irish writers in question being Maeve Binchy and Mary Lavin (nothing by Edna O'Brien or by the more recent generation). Sylvia Plath is a surprise inclusion, but the choice and approach are predominantly middle of the road, unexperimental and traditional, as is evidenced by the presence of a Daphne du Maurier story called The Pool. A page or two of biographical material would have been a bonus, but there is none.