Unabiding passion is the theme running through this collection of short stories.Lagerlof's characrters share spiritual and deeply human longings. They long for love, for inspiration, for release from psychological torment-ultimately they seek an image of truth. Some find this vision only in death. Others lack courage and flee from their visions, becoming strangers in the worlds of their own making. Social relations are difficult, thorny. But in crucial moments of transformation, true selves come out of hiding-or they are taken by storm.