Hannah Vincent's short stories depict the ordinary and extraordinary lives of women coping with the demands of society, the demands of men, of their fellow women, of their own bodies. At the centre of each story is a woman engaged in an act of self-preservation.

In one story a young woman on the cusp of adulthood tries to express the horror and violence she perceives in the world around her, in another a teenage mother struggles to look after her child in the face of her obsession with the baby's father. One character experiences the freedom of the workplace while another perceives its constraints. One discovers how far her career has pushed her out to the margins of family life while another contemplates retirement. In the title story a woman catches a whiff of what respect and reciprocal attraction feels like.

Women in these stories are exhilarated to discover the joy and surprise of other women's company, they make bold sexual choices and go on night-time excursions. As grandmothers they give their grandchildren unsuitable presents.