Young women drift through Prague wondering about unplanned pregnancies, a child's reflections on the Christian concept of sinfulness lead him to resolve to sin `just a little bit', drunken men banter over interminable card games, and a woman's salvation comes in the unexpected form of pickled buttocks. Bringing together authors of different generations, styles and backgrounds - including, for the first time in English translation, two stories by Czech Roma - this collection expresses women's multiple perspectives on social and intimate issues with by turns caustic and sensitive insight into human nature.

Translated by: David Short, Kathleen Hayes