These short stories invite the reader to see Ireland afresh. Included are works by well-known authors such as Mary Lavin, Edna O'Brien, and Julia O'Faolain; the collection also showcases new writers such as Clare Boylan, Rita Kelly, and Una Woods. <p/>Repeatedly, the stories bring us up against the inherent contradiction of provincial Ireland and Ireland as a modern European state, and the complexities of women's lives in both. Helen Lucy
>Ita Daly movingly portrays the problems of an educated, sensitive schoolteacher, resigned to her life in a country town. Anne Devlin handles yet another familiar theme: the Irelander in England, an England edgy about IRA bombings. A few stories deal with the "troubles" in Northern Ireland, while others address the troubles of the country as a whole: too many children, too much hypocrisy, too little communication, especially between women and men. <p/>The editors have provided an introduction that examines the role of women writers in Irish literature. T-hey have also supplied detailed biographical notes for each contributing author.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
"A Season for Mothers", Helen Lucy Blake; "Aimez-vous Colette", Ita Daly; "Saints and Scholars", Mary Beckett; "The Empty Ceiling", F.D.Sheridan; "Housekeeper's Cut", Clare Boylan; "Five Notes After a Visit", Anne Devlin; "Lilacs", Mary Lavin; "A Minor Incident", Maura Treacy; "The Cobweb Curtain", Rita Kelly; "A Pot of Soothing Herbs", Julia O'Faolain; "Losing", Kate Cruise O'Brien; "The Sentimentalist", Maeve Kelly; "The Shaking Trees", Lucille Redmond; "The Quibbler", Una Woods; "Winter Break", Emma Cooke; "The Wall-Reader", Fiona Barr; "A Scandalous Woman", Edna O'Brien.
