The Empty Family — Colm Toibin

In the breathtaking long story “The Street,” Tóibín imagines a relationship between Pakistani workers in Barcelona -- a taboo affair in a community ruled by obedience and silence. In “Two Women,” an eminent and taciturn Irish set designer takes a job in her homeland and must confront emotions she has long repressed. “Silence” is a brilliant historical set piece about Lady Gregory, who tells the writer Henry James a confessional story at a dinner party.