Heather Merrill’s An Alliance of Women: Immigration and the Politics of Race (University of Minnesota Press, 2006) was the subject of a provocative, inspiring, and sometimes contentious ‘Author Meets Critics’ session at the 2007 AAG meeting in San Francisco. This was the second in a series of sessions sponsored by the Qualitative Research Specialty Group that highlighted the first books of authors who advance the field of qualitative research in innovative ways. The panelists in the session—Patricia Ehrkamp, Linda McDowell, Katherine McKittrick, Heidi Nast, and Alison Mountz—acknowledged in quite distinct ways how Heather’s research raised difficult questions regarding the agendas, politics and practices of transnational feminisms in (postcolonial) Europe. As there was not enough time to discuss the remarkably diverse set of responses and insights raised by the author, panelists and audience, we decided to continue this conversation through the pages of this review forum.