I read an interesting comment about Munro after she died. Someone said that people were sharing pictures of battered copies of their books, but they were not sharing Munro quotations. This Munro-lover appreciated that the author was not being turned into a quote machine and she said she thought it was likely because every piece of a Munro story is so tightly woven that it is possible to extract a meaningful quote out of context, that she was not the kind of writer to pause and offer some authorial wisdom,
I also read that Munro struggled with the idea of a novel, so she stuck with short stories. Still, my copy of this book calls it a novel. I understand she preferred linked stories. Whatever it is, it’s wonderful.
Overall, it’s a coming-of-age story as the girl becomes the woman in the small town of Jubilee. Munro’s eye for detail is impeccable, and I really appreciated the way these stories kept me off-balance. It was never clear what the center of each story was or was going to be. I often found myself surprised when one ended. Munro’s camera does not really pull away. One story is 30 pages; another, 70. I can’t think of anyone who writes like her.
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