"First-rate collection. Depending on neither literary tricks nor pretensions, The Blue Woman succeeds on the strength of its vast compassion for the infinite variety that is a woman". -- Dan Cryer, New York NewsdayIn this delectable collection of stories that move sequentially through the ages of woman, dramatic twists surprise and unnerve the reader. From childhood violence to romantic ruin in a retirement home, mayhem and magic are never far away in this work. Deliciously conceived, highly flavored, and subtly blended, these stories are a feast for lovers of literature."Here (Flanagan) shows all the natural short-story writer's gifts of compression. Nobody can begin a story any sharper or faster". -- Michael Harris, Los Angeles Times"(The Blue Woman) bursts with insight about male-female relations, women growing older and the small dramas that affect us all.

In unflaggingly crisp, witty prose that displays a wide range of styles and points of view, the tales range through the different life stages of women". -- Publishers Weekly-- "Flanagan here writes with an effortless-seeming expertise that recalls Alice Munro. She imagines people and situations with an intensity, an affection, and an acuteness that virtually lifts them off the page with credibility". -- Peter Kemp, (London) Sunday Times.