Audrey Thomas has been nominated twice for the Governor General's Award (for Intertidal Life and Coming Down from Wa, in 1984 and 1995). She has won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize in three years, including for The Wild Blue Yonder in 1990. She has published ten novels, seven collections of stories,
It's no coincidence that a story titled for 'luck' follows one titled for 'providence' in this collection of stories by Alice Munro. Indeed, folks in Hanratty could well have a saying, that one man's luck is another man's providence. Or vice versa. And Rose is never far from Hanratty, from
In "Providence", Rose and her husband separate, and at first -- with her new job and apartment and her casual lover -- Rose is all about the possibilities and promise. (Note: There are events in this story which reveal the outcomes of earlier stories; if you plan to discover the
I've been wanting to holiday in Newford for more than ten years; finally, this spring, I spent time in Dreams Underfoot. "In Newford, creation is the supreme act of magic, whether that creation be a painting, a fiddle tune or a poem, an AIDS clinic or battered children's shelter, or
Like "The Beggar Maid", this is one of the longer stories in Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Munro. With these two long stories, the thematic strength of the collection takes root. Rose continues to struggle with the shame and complications that she perceives as arising from class
