The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories by Penelope Lively

I enjoy Penelope Lively's short story collection.  In the title story an animated purple swamp hen in a Pompeian village observes the daily follies of its people and their cruelty towards slaves while Mount Vesuvius was about to erupt.  Abroad tells the disastrous adventure of a couple's European road trip from bad to worse in a remote farm house.  Lively delves into relationships in The Third Wife where the woman outsmarts her con artist husband in a house hunting trip.  All 15 stories are filled with wisdom, humor and surprises.  It is a good read!