The twenty stories in this collection are set mainly in Europe and were published between 1951 and 1971, many of them in The New Yorker. Margaret Atwood's book blurb describes Gallant as "...a terrifyingly good writer," and she's exactly right. With the deftest touch, Gallant gets to the selfish and weak innards of her characters.

Most of the stories focus on miserable families with failed or failing marriages and absent (even if they're living with kids) parents. Think of the dark side of Eloise or imagine the darker notes of some of Elizabeth Enright's mid-20th century stories. For me, these are the hardest kinds of stories to read. I can zip through a book about war atrocities, but I had to take several breaks with these stories before I could finish the collection.

My personal tastes are the only reason I'm giving this three stars. Gallant's writing merits four, or even five, stars. Her summing-ups of characters are almost asides, but they say so much.

Here's one description of a mother, who is Mother of the Year compared to some of the other mothers in this collection:
"She had been trained in the school of indirect suggestion, and so skillful had she become that her children sometimes had no idea what she was driving at."