Just how much influence do women have? If they're the characters in Bonnie Burnard's short-story collection Women of Influence, the answer is - plenty! Her characters are often extraordinarily ordinary women dealing with ordinary lives. They exert a powerful influence on those around them - friends, family, lovers, teachers - as they try to sort out their own lives. Often they muddle along; sometimes they're very adept at coping but, usually and like most people, they're not quite in control of their own destiny. From the woman who ponders her husband's infidelity in "Moon Watcher" to the elderly wife contemplating death in "Reflections", Burnard's women of influence come alive with a wonderful intensity and a pervasive compassion. Burnard constantly and fearlessly tests the strength of her characters, often in compelling plots that deal with confrontation or loss. But also running throughout these exquisite and precise stories is a thread of subtle humour that never loses its profound and sensitive understanding of human nature.