Enterprising Women

John Fraser's 'Enterprising Women is a sequence of stories of women in difficult circumstances, who contrive to avoid - and sometimes cause - the worst of consequences. In 'The Flies', the women are witness to violence and temptation, and although one of the heroines succumbs to alcohol, the others manage to maintain their extraneous, and independent, positions. In 'Landfall', the protagonist, a spymaster, survives the loss and betrayal of her male companions, maintains her scepticism regarding the value of her profession, and ultimately we presume she continues on her solitary path, undiminished. The hero finds employment and travel with a female entrepreneur, who joins another, philosophically minded, colleague, and together they prosper in a -shady - business. The final scene concerns a conservationist who confronts a potentially disastrous situation. Maybe she exaggerates the consequences - but she steers herself through it, and survives.