THE WOMEN, a short story collection by Sommer Schafer, tests women in everyday situations in which the challenge requires a unique, and sometimes fantastical, approach. In 'Mary and the Machine,' the main character desperately usurps a comfort meant exclusively for her newborn. In 'My Little Pet,' the main character finds an unusual and mysterious creature on her doorstep one morning who initially seems to offer her the love she has always desired. In 'The Women,' a women-only book club takes a bloody turn, and in 'The Trappings,' a new mother finds herself and her toddler lost in a wild Alaskan forest until stumbling across a cabin hiding in the woods.