Covering the first half of Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro's career, these are some of the best, most touching and powerful short stories ever written. 'Munro can pack more into one of her stories - more subtlety, more grace, more tender twists of the human heart - than many novelists do' Independent This first-ever selection of Alice Munro's stories sums up her genius. Her territory is the secrets that cackle beneath the fa ade of everyday lives, the pain and promises, loves and fears of apparently ordinary men and women whom she renders extraordinary and unforgettable.