10 Stories from 200 Years about the Encounters of Lovers, selected and edited by Nicole Seifert. Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, Dorothy Parker, Alice Munro, Laurie Colwin, Bobbie Ann Mason, Lorrie Moore, Zadie Smith, and Karen Köhler. Ten great female authors write about marriage proposals and weddings, about engagement periods and honeymoons. A common theme is doubt. Time and again, women must decide whether to say yes or no. Does she really want him? Is she ready to say goodbye to her old life? Should she break off the engagement or let things take their course? A fine line between fear and hope that often proves to be extremely narrow. It is repeatedly the friends and sisters who are consulted and who influence the decision. The stories span 200 years of women's literary history.