Saturday’s Book: “Dance of the Happy Shades” by Alice Munroe

Naomi's Photos
Naomi’s Photos

This is what happens when I break my own rule.

The rule is not to read a book by the same author, (an author whose writing I like, mind you) without waiting several months.

I read “Dear Life” in July.

What happened was that a year ago or more (not sure) Vicky Loras had really recommended this book to me and the library didn’t carry it. I talked to the librarian about it and she wrote it down. “We’ll see”, she said. Imagine me arriving at the library just as they were unpacking a batch of brand new books they had purchased, including this one, the one I had requested!

So, of course I went home with it.

It’s not that the book isn’t good, it is (especially the story with the same name as the book!) and having read Munroes’ autobiographical stories in the previous book gave me extra insight into these stories. However, Alice Munroe’s writing has a depressing quality about it. Lots of trapped women, dreams dashed, general dissatisfaction…

Reading a second batch of these stories got me feeling quite depressed. I skipped two stories, I just couldn’t deal with it.

Rules are there for a reason…

 

 

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