<DIV>These five stories feature modern Irishwomen emerging from a culture where they knew their place, into a more hazardous, but more rewarding light. In <I>The Night People Came in for Something That Was No Trouble,</I> Cara's envy of another couple's disingenuous ease at giving dinner parties spurs her to plan the perfect ?casual” evening down to the last detail?but things don't go as she'd intended. <I>The Stepson</I> sees Clare walking on eggshells, taking great care not to try to replace her stepson Simon's dead mother: until she finally attempts to break through his hostile diffidence. <I>Decisions at Sea</I> finds Tessa, an overlooked but good-tempered secretary, heading out on a cruise, where she faces a big decision. In <I>The Answer Machine,</I> Biddy reasons that her family need an answer machine for Christmas, and gives it to them early?but by Christmas, she is beginning to regret the whole idea. And in <I>By the Time We Get to Clifden,</I> Nessa and her husband Harry are planning their annual break to Clifden, when neighbor Melly seeks their help, and ends up changing their itinerary and their lives.</DIV>