Silvina Ocampo (1903-93), author of seven volumes of poetry and more than three hundred short stories, was a member of Argentina's Sur generation, the extraordinary group of writers who initiated Latin America's literary boom. Like her most distinguished contemporary, Jorge Luis Borges, Silvina Ocampo is known for her interest in the supernatural. In contrast to Borges, however, her characters are frequently women or little girls who challenge notions of female propriety at every turn. Ocampo's stories often portray a world of every-day banality in which violence, sexual transgression, and...