Celia Correas de Zapata, an internationally recognized expert in the field of Latin American fiction written by women, has collected stories by thirty-one authors from fourteen countries, translated into English by such renowned scholars and writers as Gregory Rabassa and Margaret Sayers Peden. Contributors include Dora Alonso, Rosario Ferré, Elena Poniatowska, Ana Lydia Vega, and Luisa Valenzuela. The resulting book is a literary tour de force, stories written by women in this hemisphere that speak to cultures throughout the world. In her Foreword, Isabel Allende states, "This anthology is so valuable; it lays open the emotions of writers who, in turn, speak for others still shrouded in silence."

Contents:                

An act of vengeance /; Isabel Allende --; Sophie and the angel /; Dora Alonso --; Asthmatic /; Helena Araujo --; The tree /; María Luisa Bombal --; Culinary lesson /; Rosario Castellanos --; The end of a struggle /; Amparo Dávila --; In heaven /; Guadalupe Dueñas --; Shoes for the rest of my life /; Guadalupe Dueñas --; The child that never was /; Maria Virginia Estenssoro --; A poisoned tale /; Rosario Ferré --; Blame the Tlaxcaltecs /; Elena Garro --; The last emigrant /; Nora Glickmann --; The Virgin's passion /; Lucía Guerra --; Berkly or Mariana of the universe /; Liliana Heker --; Knight, death and the devil /; Vlady Kociancich --; The cove /; Luisa Mercedes Levinson --; Looking for some dignity /; Clarice Lispector --; In the family /; María Elena Llano --; Symbiotic encounter /; Carmen Naranjo --; The midgets /; Olga Orozco --; A gentleman on the train /; Antonia Palacios --; Breaking the speed record /; Cristina Peri Rossi --; Big-bellied cow /; Nélida Piñón --; To seize the earth /; Josefina Pla --; Park cinema /; Elena Poniatowska --; The story of a cat /; Teresa Porzencanski --; Death and transfiguration of a teacher /; María Teresa Solari --; The tale of the velvet pillows /; Marta Traba --; Up among the eagles /; Luisa Valenzuela --; Penelope's silver wedding anniversary /; Rima de Vallbona --; Cloud cover Caribbean /; Ana Lydia Vega --; The IWM 1000 /; Alicia Yáñez Cossío.