This volume is a collection of short stories originally published in 1991 that reflect the author's experience of being surrounded by American influences while still being familiarly bound to her Mexican heritage as she grew-up north of the Mexico-US border. The short vignettes focus on the social role of women and their relationships with the men and other women in their lives. The majority of the characters are stereotypes: men embody machismo while women are naive and generally weak. The author focuses on three feminine clichés: the passive virgin, sinful seductress, and traitorous mother. Not properly belonging to either Mexico or America, the Chicana protagonists earnestly search for their identity, only to discover abuse and shattered dreams. Apart from focusing on these issues of struggling females, this work simultaneously develops the readers' sensitivity towards the lives of immigrants.