Runaway

Author: Alice Munro
Publisher: Vintage 2004

Alice Munro reminds me of Raymond Carver. Carver wrote short stories about the lives of people in rural areas of the Pacific Northwest of America, while Munro wrote short stories about people in rural areas of Canada. Like Carver’s stories, Munro’s stories are incredibly delightful. They transport you to a culture that may be unfamiliar but in a very engaging way.

The stories in this book are relatively long, averaging about 50 pages each. There are eight stories in this collection: "Runaway," "Chance," "Soon," "Silence," "Passion," "Trespasses," "Tricks," and "Powers." All are excellent, and each one revolves around women.

I'll give a brief taste of each story without revealing any plot spoilers.

In "Runaway," Sylvia tries to help her neighbor, Carla, whom she believes is suffering from spousal abuse.
“Listen,” said Sylvia. “Listen to me. If you had the money to go, would you go?”
Will Carla accept Sylvia’s help and leave? When relationships are complex, can the answers be simple?

While studying for her Ph.D. in classics, Juliet accepts a temporary teaching job in Vancouver. On the train, a man approaches her. After the usual small talk—“Is this seat taken?” “How far are you going?” “Did you get on at Toronto too?”—which she isn't particularly interested in, she continues to read her book, providing only minimal answers to his questions. Finally, she gets up and says, “I do want to read. I think I’ll go to the observation car.” At the next station, some passengers get off the train to stretch their legs. Shortly after the call to board again, the train lurches and shudders to a stop. Apparently, the train has hit a man, and he is dead. The man who was sitting next to Juliet is now missing. Is he the one who died? Did he commit suicide? Is it because Juliet rejected him? This is the beginning of "Chance," in which Juliet's well-planned life changes dramatically.

"Soon" is a continuation of the story "Chance." Juliet returns home with her thirteen-month-old daughter, Penelope. They have a new, young assistant named Irene. Juliet feels like a stranger in her parents’ home.

"Silence" continues the story from "Soon." Penelope has gone to a camp for six months, and Juliet has not heard from her. When she visits the camp to see her, Penelope is gone, and no one knows where she is.

Together, these three stories capture the young life, midlife, and old age of Juliet. They form an extremely compelling and unusual narrative.

"Passion" tells the story of Grace, who works as a waitress at a tourist hotel near a lake during the summer. A client named Maury asks her out to see the movie Father of the Bride. She hates the movie. She can’t quite explain it—it isn’t jealousy she feels, but rage. It’s because that was what girls were supposed to be, like in the movie. Maury wants to marry her, but things get complicated afterward.

Harry and Eileen have only one daughter, Lauren. They are well-off and live a relatively trouble-free life. But then Lauren meets a woman named Delphine. Delphine befriends Lauren, and when the parents find out, things evolve in strange ways in the story "Trespasses."

Robin lives with her sister, who suffers from asthma. She is a nurse who loves to watch plays. On Saturdays, she travels to a nearby town by train to see performances. One Saturday, she loses her handbag with her return train ticket and all her money. A stranger helps her out, cooks her dinner in his apartment, buys her a train ticket, and asks her to return in a year, wearing the same dress, because he is going back to Yugoslavia soon. A year later, Robin is ready to go and see this stranger. What "Tricks" might await her?

The final story, "Powers," is about two schoolmates, Nancy and Tessa. Tessa drops out of school due to illness and lives alone in her house. She seems to have some power to "see" things. Wilf and his cousin Ollie begin to complicate the lives of the two girls.

Alice Munro is an excellent storyteller, and I highly recommend her work.