Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice

232 pp. "A new volume of stories from A.S. Byatt is always a joy, and this one is rich and rare indeed. The collected stories deal with betrayal and loyalty, quests and longings, loneliness and passion -- the mysterious absences at the heart of the fullest lives, in settings ranging from the heat of Provence in summer to the cold forests of Scandinavia, from chalk-strewn classrooms to herb-scented hillsides, from suburban streets to rocky wilds."