Poetry. Women's Studies. CONTRARIES is a collection of poems about the life of a woman from birth through childhood, adolescence, marriage, erotic life, political and cultural context, children, grandchildren, and illness—all seen through the perspective of age. "[Sondra Zeidenstein] examines a long-term marriage from every possible angle—that of a daughter, of a loving wife and partner, of a passionate young woman and a passionate older one. She flinches from nothing; she remembers everything"—Sue Ellen Thompson.