Dear Life, By Alice Munro - Paperbacks of the Year review

I’m refusing to believe that Munro has retired from writing, more in hope than in expectation, as, Lorrie Moore excepted, she really is the short story writer to beat.

Here, she focuses primarily on how we betray one another, whether it’s matrimonial, or aspirational, or familial. Munro’s delicacy has a Plath-like toughness to it – she doesn’t shy away from the incestuous thoughts a father might have towards his daughter after he watches her naked in the bath. Munro has always been fascinated by those moments that tilt our world on its axis, as though the world really does turn on a kiss, but her brilliance lies in the psychological way that she convinces us of that fact.