This is a collection of 11 stories, in which women make discoveries about love, men, relationships, families and life in their contemporary Canadian small town.

In these piercingly lovely and endlessly surprising stories by one of the most acclaimed current practitioners of the art of fiction, many things happen: there are betrayals and reconciliations, love affairs consummated and mourned.

艾丽丝·门罗（Alice Munro，1931— ），加拿大女作家，2013年诺贝尔文学奖得主。一生专注于中短篇小说创作，讲述小地方普通人特别是女性隐含悲剧的平常生活，以细腻透彻又波澜不惊的话语，洞见人性的幽微处。在获得诺奖之前，门罗就被誉为“我们时代的契诃夫”；诺贝尔文学奖颁奖词称她为“当代短篇小说大师”。

In these piercingly lovely and endlessly surprising stories by one of the most acclaimed current practitioners of the art of fiction, many things happen: there are betrayals and reconciliations, love affairs consummated and mourned.

This is a collection of 11 stories, in which women make discoveries about love, men, relationships, families and life in their contemporary Canadian small town.

A searing satire set amid the murderous mayhem of Sri Lanka beset by civil war Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet gay, has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira lake and he has no idea who killed him. At a time where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers and hir...(展开全部)

A searing satire set amid the murderous mayhem of Sri Lanka beset by civil war Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet gay, has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira lake and he has no idea who killed him. At a time where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers and hir...(展开全部)

<BLOCKQUOTE> "How about a story? Spin us a yarn." Instantly, Phoebe Winterbottom came to mind. "I could tell you an extensively strange story," I warned. "Oh, good!" Gram said. "Delicious!" And that is how I happened to tell them about Phoebe, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic.</P></BLOCKQUOTE> As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her ow...(展开全部)

After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route and Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left