In Ice, ' Irene unwittingly betrays her illegally-fishing father, whose enthusiasm for the Soviet space programme already sets him apart from the other men in the town. In The Bible Seller, ' the confluence of a lightning strike, her mother's departure for a puzzling hospital stay, and the visit of an itinerant bible salesman gives Irene a foreboding of life's mysteries. In The Blue Dress, ' a gift from her Aunt Rose awakens old resentments...