Revenge

In this collection of 20 tales by writers as diverse as Alice Walker, Muriel Spark, Lisa St. Aubin de Teran and Joanna Briscoe, the common thread is revenge in its myriad forms. Some pit family members against one another: in editor Saunders's ``Jim's Angel,'' a plain sister wreaks vengeance for the death of her pretty sibling's dim-witted husband 35 years before, while Elizabeth Gaskell's ``The Doom of the Griffiths'' shows a son unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy by killing his father. Revenge serves as an act of self-assertion in Mary Flanagan's ``The Wedding Dress'' (a bride designs a flamboyant gown), and in Ellen Gilchrist's title story (a young girl schemes to do the same things her brothers do). Some of the stories are frightening, some funny, some supernatural, some ornate. All bear the distinct imprint of a woman's patient and imaginative vengeance, even when the avenger is a man, and in every case revenge is accorded an important place in everyday life. The act of seeking it is always sweet, even when the aftermath is unsuccessful. (Oct.)