In ''Christmas Lists – A Seasonal Story,'' the endless lists created by a suburban couple become a metaphor for marriage, family, and enduring love.

In ''Delights of France or Horrors of the Road,'' a woman goes to a psychiatrist to cure her sudden, inexplicable paralysis, unaware that her constant bragging about her brilliant physicist husband conceals a raging fury.

''Redundant! or the Wife''s Revenge''

takes place in a plastic surgery ward, where Fay Weldon finds an ironic humor.

The title story, Polaris

introduces newlyweds Meg and Timmy, whose union is tested when Timmy is called away to naval duty and Meg discovers a shocking secret.

Now in her ninth decade, Fay Weldon is one of the foremost chroniclers of our time, a novelist who spoke to an entire generation of women by daring to say the things that no one else would.

Her work ranges over novels, short stories, children''s books, nonfiction, journalism, television, radio, and the stage. She was awarded a CBE in 2001.