Best known for her well-loved and prize-winning novels, Stephanie Johnson also writes superb short stories, plays and poetry. Written over the last sixteen years, this collection of twenty-three stories show the breadth of Stephanie's writing. It features her poignant insights as well as her sharp wit, with characters as diverse as a woman arranging a second wife for her husband, a criminal returning to the care of his mother, and a widow who hears an octopus call her name. There are new and old favourites here; New Zealand stories and stories set overseas, reflecting back on our perspectives and lifestyle. There are fables and ghost stories, tales of the young and old. This is a book to dip into and devour.