Susan Rendell’s In the Chambers of the Sea is a masterpiece of literary midwifery: Throughout these fourteen short stories, Rendell moves from voice to voice, from life to life, without once losing sight of the essential nature of her characters; they may often find themselves stumbling through the darkness of despair, but they are never far from the light of redemption and revelation. On the surface, Rendell’s writing sparkles with witty prose that is mesmeric in its cadences; beneath, it reveals a depth of spiritual knowing and beauty that is near-bottomless.