The characters who populate an Alice Munro story live and breathe; in the finely drawn detail of their lives we find a reflection of ourselves. Passions hopelessly conceived, affections betrayed, marriages made and broken: the joys, loves, and awakenings of women echo throughout these twelve unforgettable stories, laying bare the unexceptional and yet inescapable pain of human contact. From the opening story exploring family relations to the poignant story that closes the collection, this is "vintage Munro."