Governor General’s Award, Giller Prize, Man Booker International Prize, Nobel Prize in Literature—clearly Alice Munro is a rare talent. Born in Wingham, Ontario, Munro often returns in her fiction to the the environs of Huron county, narrating the lives of ordinary people.

Carried Away is a collection of short stories from across her literary career, assembled by the author 2006, enshrined between the clothbound covers of an Everyman’s Library edition. These stories focus on the universal themes of human existence—love and loss, loyalty and betrayal, life and death—all from a feminist perspective.

One of the (many) areas Munro excels in is the way she uses dialog to enrich characterization. Terse exchanges are full of the unspoken. Take, for example, this discussion between husband and wife, Clark and Carla:

Shortly after this Clark said, “We could’ve made him pay.”
Carla knew at once what he was talking about, but she took it as a joke.
“Too late now,” she said. “You can’t pay once you’re dead.”
“He can’t. She could.”
“She’s gone to Greece.”
“She’s not going to stay in Greece.”
“She didn’t know,” said Carla more soberly.
“I didn’t say she did.”
“She doesn’t have a clue about it.”
“We could fix that.”
Carla said, “No. No.”
Clark went on as if she had not spoken. (479–80)

In Munro’s hands, a few lines can say much more than you’d expect.

Munro, Alice. Carried Away: A Personal Selection of Stories. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Everyman’s Library 302.