Words and pictures combine to evoke the quiet passions of a grown woman, who claims to have no personal talent beyond selfless admiration. For three of the four, her "love" was sparked and nurtured by other people in her life. Her fourth love, of light, is a secret and, because it is hers alone, it will grow--like an enlarging left ventricle--to dominate everything else. The anatomical heart is juxtaposed to the metaphor of love; the disease of an enlarged heart is likened to all consuming passion that is perversely welcome, even celebrated. Death in this sense is an apotheosis.

Throughout this collection, the writer gives her twentieth-century sources for the illustrations, but unfortunately she does not provide their origin. The lacuna reminds us that this is not a historical or a social essay, but a work of art that combines words with pictures. The author calls these creative essays "stories."