<DIV>The first collection of its kind, <I>Lifelines </I>presents new work by young female writers from Bangladesh. Their stories portray multifaceted characters trying to take control of their own destinies, challenging stereotypes that cast the complex country as nothing more than poor and underdeveloped.<BR><BR>In these tales, a successful architect suddenly becomes the reluctant guardian of two children; a New York cabbie ponders his previous incarnation as an investment banker; a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law maintain an uneasy truce based on delusion; a student encounters a mystery from his past in a foreign land; a young woman discovers an unlikely cure for self-consciousness; clear-eyed children observe adult hypocrisies; and romance makes its way into in all the wrong places. While some of the stories are set in Bangladesh and others occur against the backdrop of expatriate communities established during the Bangladeshi diaspora, they all paint unforgettable portraits of men, women, and children who face unexpected challenges and discover that the decisions they make can have far-reaching consequences.</DIV>