The ten writers in this volume rose to prominence in the last decade of the twentieth century. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba underwent a drastic economic contraction that brought about an explosion of feminine narrative writing, largely in a need to reinforce the self-esteem so critical in times of crisis and uncertainty. Although most of these stories were written with the Cuban reader in mind, they offer not only a window on Cuban women's lives but also a mirror in which we can see ourselves reflected.