<DIV><b>From the author of <i>The Great Fire</i>, a collection of stories about love and acceptance, expectations and disappointment</b><BR><BR>Shirley Hazzard's stories are sharp, sensitive portrayals of moments of crisis. Whether they are set in the Italian countryside or suburban Connecticut, the stories deal with real people and real problems.<BR><BR>In the title piece, a young widow is surprised and ashamed by her lack of grief for her husband.<BR>In “A Place in the Country,” a young woman has a passionate, guilty affair with her cousin's husband. In “Harold,” a gawky, lonely young man finds acceptance and respect through his poetry. <BR><BR>Moving and evocative, these ten stories are written with subtlety, humor, and a keen understanding of the relationships between men and women.<BR></div> <DIV><b>Shirley Hazzard</b> was born in Australia, and in early years traveled the world with her parents due to their diplomatic postings. In 1963, she married the writer Francis Steegmuller, who died in 1994. Hazzard's novels include <i>The Evening of the Holiday</i> (1966), <i>The Bay of Noon</i> (1970), and <i>The Transit of Venus</i> (1981). She is also the author of <i>People in Glass Houses</i> (1967), which is a collection of short stories, as well as the nonfiction works <i>Defeat of an Ideal</i> (1973), <i>Countenance of Truth</i> (1990), and <i>Greene on Capri</i> (2000), the last of which is a memoir. Hazzard's most recent novel, <i>The Great Fire</i>, won the National Book Award in 2004.<BR></div> <DIV>Shirley Hazzard's stories are sharp, sensitive portrayals of moments of crisis. Whether they are set in the Italian countryside or suburban Connecticut, the stories deal, engrossingly and intelligently, with real people and real problems. <BR><BR>In the title piece of this collection, a young widow is surprised and ashamed by her lack of grief for her husband. In "A Place in the Country," a young woman has a passionate, guilty affair with her cousin's husband. In "Harold," a gawky, lonely young man finds acceptance and respect through his poetry.<BR><BR>Moving and evocative, these ten stories are written with subtlety, humor, and a keen understanding of the relationships between men and women.<BR></div> <DIV>"Hazzard has such a treasury of style that she can economize or splurge, and, because her taste is unerring, every expenditure is right."—<b><i>Vogue</i></b> <BR><BR>"Hazzard's mind is a revolving light that picks a scene, holds it in utmost clarity for a moment against the surrounding darkness, and moves on."—<b><i>The New York Times </i></b><BR></div>