The protagonists of the stories in this translated collection all crave a private domain, a place that nobody else can touch. They share with their creator a passion for words, a passion for writing and a passion for literature. These characters are feisty, non-conformist, and fiercely independent—traits that do not necessarily serve them well in the constraints of the conservative environments in which they find themselves, be that the environment of their family, their work or their country.

To read the stories in this collection is to enter the private domain of the characters who populate them. And yet it is also to share with those characters their quest for the most elemental thing in life: meaningful connections with other human beings. These stories remind us that that quest is at one and the same time the most fundamental and the most difficult endeavor of human existence.