This groundbreaking book presents conceptual, theoretical and applied research on women's life histories. The authors fulfill two needs: they provide a collection of essays that grapple with controversial issues in the study of life history, and they present many narratives from women of color, the majority collected and interpreted by women of color. The individual chapters offer a variety of voices linked by a philosophical and political orientation that places women of color at the center of scholarly inquiry rather than at the periphery. Ultimately, readers find in this text innovative ways of reconceptualizing the complexities of women's lives.