RUNAWAY Stories

The subtle and exquisitely polished stories of Alice Munro are among the literary marvels of our time, and Kymberly Dakin conveys effectively the peculiar blend of Canadian "haut provincialism" that provides the tone, context, and so much of the humor of Munro's finest stories. Each of these eight stories features a runaway of some kind; dramatic events are most often filtered through the consciousness and recollection of the female protagonist. Dakin, who also narrated Munro's last story collection, HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE, works successfully in a narrow band of vocals and tones, grasping that these are stories of voice and of distance, in which motive and outcome often remain mysterious, and in which evenness of delivery is part of the drama of the telling. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 05]