An eclectic mixture of things has been poured into this slender volume: the longest piece is a short story, there are some poems, an essay, an interview...
The title piece is the short story, a tale of violence and slavery that is both moving and tragic. LeGuin has discussed slavery in her fiction a number of times but this isn't repetition. Here it seems to be used as an extreme case of what happens when a Patriarchal society reduces women to menials and sex-objects. The only flaw I found in this story is that I found it difficult to see how the society portrayed actually arose; it seems oddly artificial to me, which is rare in my experience of LeGuin.
The poems felt competent but it is too small a sample from which to make a proper judgement of the author's stature in that field and they are the only ones I've read. I'm at least not put off reading more.
The essay and interview are outspoken though not terribly surprising in the views espoused.
I would think this volume would appeal most to LeGuin fans who have are already familiar with several of her major fictional works.