Clare and David-divided as children by a rigid social code that branded her as shanty Irish and him as gentry...brought together as adults by a desire that knew no class, no barriers, only the urgent hunger of two people destined to love-and ready to defy a world determined to keep them apart. Even at fifteen, David Power knew the echo would answer eleven-year-old Clare O'Brien's dearest wish, to win a school prize. But it was years before Dr. Power's...

A collection of twenty-two short stories follows the adventures of a woman who reaches a turning point during an affair with a married man, a dress designer who's had a god-awful day, and more.

Collects the best of the author's essays from five decades of the "Irish Times" to reflect a changing culture as well as her observations on such topics as the royal wedding, waitressing, and boring airline companions.

Marilyn Vine's idyllic life in Connecticut is devastated by the tragic death of her only son, Dale, during his 15th birthday party. 3,000 miles away, Ria Lynch's marriage comes to a stunningly abrupt end in Dublin, Ireland, when husband Danny reveals that he is leaving her for his pregnant mistress, Bernadette. An accidental phone call brings these two otherwise unrelated women together and, in their mutual need for space and time alone, they agree...