Comprising four long stories - 'The Becker Wives', 'The Joy Ride', 'A Happy Death' and 'Magenta' - this collection is one of Lavin's most celebrated. Together, these stories capture the frustrations and grace of characters struggling to free themselves in places that are often hostile to their desires: a new bride coming home to her husband's prim family, two butlers taking a rare opportunity to go out drinking, a woman pleading with her dying husband...