From Dublin's suburbs to the streets of New York, women's hopes and dreams come alive in a unique collection of stories that mines Ireland's extraordinary storytelling tradition. In Maeve Binchy's "Taximen Are Invisible" a cabbie becomes silent party to the lives of a couple who seem to have it all--until he sees the truth, and counts his own heretofore unrecognized blessings. The perfect marriage in Mary Gordon's "Bishop's House" appears to be the province of Helen and Richard, longtime friends of divorcée Lavinia--until Lavinia discovers the true nature of their bond with each other--and with her.  Mary Maher pays tribute to a simple wife in "Lucy's Story" as Lucy shares her deepest secrets with a psychologist friend--and shows the steel beneath the fluff. In these and sixteen other superb stories, Ireland's finest writers create vivid portraits of extraordinary women--gallant, sometimes foolish, often wise--who have found the courage to endure loss of innocence and love betrayed...and survive.