17 stories by 17 female authors about 17 women, each more different than the last - they tell of brutal rape, the crude desire for seduction, and touches that leave one bewildered. Yet, they are united by one thing: an unwavering will for strength and self-determination. In a time when the renegotiation of relationships between women and men is taking place, in a moment of great unrest and confusion, it is literature that provides enlightenment. Nowhere else is our reality depicted in all its facets, nowhere else can thinking, feeling, and acting occur simultaneously. And nowhere else can all that be told which would otherwise remain untold.