In this beautifully packaged anthology A. S. Byatt, Alice Munro, Elizabeth Bowen, Sherwood Anderson, Edith Wharton, Anita Desai, Colm Tóibín, Lorrie Moore and many others reflect upon all aspects of motherhood in stories lyrical and satirical, realistic and fantastic, hilarious and heartbreaking. Here at last is a gift-book that is neither sentimental nor ''inspirational'', offering instead high-quality literary fiction which will continue to entertain long after the chocolates have been eaten and the flowers thrown away.