Since ancient tales of terror speak all to frighteningly of the present, Trible's aim is here to tell what she calls 'sad stories': tales of terror with women as victims. Belonging to the sacred scriptures of synagogue and church, these narratives yield four portraits of suffering in ancient Israel: Hagar, Tamar, an unnamed concubine and the daughter of Jephthah. While seeking to cross this land of terror, from which 'no traveller returns unscarred', the author knows that sad stories may inspire new beginnings. By interpreting stories of outrage on behalf of their female victims she recovers a neglected history, recalls a past that the present embodies, and prays that these terrors shall not come to pass again.