A collection of stories about women of all ages and circumstances. The runaway of the title is a young woman who is incapable of leaving her husband. In another, a country girl emerging into the world discovers the limits and lies of passion. Three stories concern the same woman; in the first, she escapes from teaching at a girls' school into a wild love affair; in the second, she returns with her child to the home of her parents; and in the last, her vanished child turns up in a religious cult.
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