All human actions have one or more of these seven chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. - Aristotle The characters in Bitchess, the new collection of short fiction by Marie Lecrivain, are driven by one, some or all of these causes. They are from all manner of moments in time and place and walks of life who have all embraced the truth of their existence for better or for worse. Whether it is the office drone who discovers the terrifying power of simply speaking her mind or the nebbish, long suffering salaryman who learns how liberating one selfish act can be or the powerful, blood thirsty royal who learns that her obedient subjects will only suffer the horrific loss of their children for so long, each must succumb to their true nature no matter where that leads. The results are stories that are funny and tragic and empowering and always riveting.