In this, his first collection of short stories, playwright C. G. Gardiner offers eleven stories about love, sex, adultery, betrayal, abandonment, violence, and ultimately the triumph of mostly strong women over adversities in their relationships.
The centerpiece of the collection, An Invitation To Tea, tells the story of Maggie Porter, a young woman from a small town in Alabama, who moves to Washington D.C. to escape small town life. She finds life in the "big city" fast, stressful, exciting, and dangerous. In her first attempt at dating, she must face down a potential rapist. She then has to call on her Uncle Denys to end the man's harassment and attempts at intimidation.
In, Perhaps, sixty-nine-year-old Norris Pope tracks down Emma Davis, the girl who infatuated him fifty years before. She invites him to join her on a cruise through the Caribbean. He travels from Washington D.C. to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to do so, and is initially disillusioned by the woman Emma has become - physically. But after a week with her on the cruise, he finds himself as infatuated with her as he had been at nineteen. And eager for another cruise.
In, What Happens In Paradise, after discovering her husband's infidelity, Denise Stubbs goes to Paradise Island in the Bahamas with five of her sorority sisters. There, with the encouragement of her "sorors," she engages in her own acts of infidelity for three nights. She enjoys it. And she "finds" herself as a woman and recognizes the power she possesses. Those "three nights in paradise" change the course of her life.
Throughout this collection, we are introduced to characters facing everyday choices and challenges that many can identify with. And in the telling of their stories, C. G. Gardiner displays a keen insight into human nature, and the gift of a "natural born" storyteller.