The trials of solitary, unconventional women from all walks of life is the literary thread that weaves together this well-executed collection of short stories by some of the world's literary greats, both living and dead. In the introduction, celebrated Chilean novelist Marcela Serrano, recognized for her headstrong female characters, ruminates upon the irony of the numerous male writers who have penned their greatest stories about so-called lonely women, often reducing their existence to not having a man in their lives or being cold-hearted. While never discrediting the literary value of such stories, Serrano reinforces the idea that men have created laws that undermine women's individualism, even in modern times. In Oscar Wilde's 1981 "La esfinge sin secreto" ("The Sphinx Without a Secret"), a British man recounts the tale of a society woman so intent on remaining mysterious that she breaks his heart by making him wonder about the secrets she could be hiding. In the other extreme, Russian legend Anton Chekhov's 1886 "Princesa" ("The Princess") examines the workings of a privileged royal woman's conscience and her alienation from the feelings and perceptions of the suffering humanity that surrounds her. Finally, in the never-before-published "Tejamos, tejamos, mano enloquecida" ("Let's Sew, Let's Sew, Insane Hand"), contemporary Spanish journalist Nuria Barrios depicts three generations of women glued to one another through loneliness and widowhood. This gem of a collection, which features translations and original writings by Sherwood Anderson, John Cheever, Carlos Fuentes, Katherine Mansfield, and others, is highly recommended for academic and some public libraries and universitybookstores.