A well-written selection of short stories, which one feels must be somewhat autobiographical. From childhood recollections of a shabby-genteel Victorian family in England; a strange romance between the now-adult daughter and the Russian emigre she types for; through to various Russian-setting tales. Nothing political, as I had anticipated...tales of women's relationships with their landladies and neighbors; an abandoned wife devoting her life to raising a mentally-handicapped son....And a couple describing lonely old age, back in England. The author also has a liking for felines:; if anyone ever compiles a book of cat stories, they might include the last in the collection, "Pussy Cat, Pusy Cat, where have you been?" ( )