Alice Munro

Moments of change, chance encounters, the twist of fate that leads a person to a new way of thinking or being: the stories in Dear Life build to form a radiant, indelible portrait of just how dangerous and strange ordinary life can be.

In these stories, whole lives come into focus through single events or sudden memories which bring the past bubbling to the surface. The past, as the characters discover, is made up not only of what is remembered, but also what isn't.

In this collection the author takes the lives of women - unruly, unpredictable, decent or funny - and brings their hidden desires bubbling to the surface.

In this collection of eight short stories, nearly all set in a small Canadian town, Munro examines her seemingly mundane characters’ varied lives and hidden passions.

These are beguiling, provocative stories about manipulative men and the women who outwit them, about destructive marriages and curdled friendships, about mothers and sons, about moments which change or haunt a life. Stories that surprise and delight, turning lives into art, expanding our world and shedding light on the strange workings of the human heart.