Vanessa was born in the small Manitoba town of Manawaka - a world of proud personal struggles bitter family conflicts and unyielding prairie traditions. It was here in the lean years of the Depression that she came into her own a courageous provincial girl determined to satisfy her thirst for freedom. A brilliant collection of short stories by Canada's most celebrated most popular novelist and part of her acclaimed Manawaka series which also includes The Diviners A Jest of God The Stone Angel and The Fire-Dwellers.