Written during World War II and its immediate aftermath, the eighteen stories of The Women on the Wall move from women to war and back again, but it is the women who remain central. There are Alma, a war bride who runs a farm better than the neighbor men; Lucy, a former WAAF, working through college; Tamsen, who keeps her husband drunk so she can do as she pleases; and the women on the wall, who, with nothing to do but wait for their husbands to return from the war, find their private consolations. To these stories Wallace Stegner brings the same skill and thoughtfulness that won him the National Book Award for The Spectator Bird

"In his quiet way, Wallace Stegner is one of the most talented writers in our midst."—New York Herald Tribune

"This is a group of remarkably able stories, reflecting people as well as situations. Mr. Stegner is one of the top craftsmen among today's short story writers, and this volume, representative of his work over a ten-year period, is eminently worth your time."—San Francisco Chronicle