In Nora Ephron’s film Sleepless in Seattle, a colleague says to Meg Ryan and Rosie O’Donnell, “It’s easier to be killed by a terrorist than it is to find a husband over the age of 40.” Ryan responds immediately with “That statistic is not true!” O’Donnell agrees. “That’s right, it’s not true. But it feels true.”

These rueful truths gave Nora Ephron’s work its sparkle, the distillate clarity, accessible wisdom, wit and longevity of a great pop song. Ephron chronicled modern relationships, looking at how feminism, the new economy, and new technology were transforming — and being transformed by — love. She asked the questions that lurked in the hearts of all men and women in a world of changing gender relations, but which few voiced for fear of seeming dated, naïve, too frivolous or not liberated enough — can a man and a woman truly be just friends? Can you really fall in love over the Internet? Is romance just for foolish romantics or the key to finding your true self?