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 divorced, footloose 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. It's a last, ironic good-bye for a long-separated couple in Mary Morrissy's "Clods," when a husband invites his wife to his mother's funeral, then overwhelms her with an unexpected passion.

In these and the other unforgettable stories, nineteen writers weave tales of love, loss, and hope, creating vivid portraits of extraordinary women - gallant, sometimes foolish, often wise women - who have found the courage to endure loss of innocence and love betrayed ... and survive.