Lives of Girls and Women

by Alice Munro

Overview

The debut novel from Nobel Prize–winning author Alice Munro, “one of the most eloquent and gifted writers of contemporary fiction” (The New York Times).

“Munro has an unerring talent for uncovering the extraordinary in the ordinary.”—Newsweek
 
Rural Ontario, 1940s. Del Jordan lives out at the end of the Flats Road on her father’s fox farm, where her most frequent companions are an eccentric bachelor family friend and her rough younger brother. When she begins spending more time in town, she is surrounded by women—her mother, an agnostic, opinionated woman who sells encyclopedias to local farmers; her mother’s boarder, the lusty Fern Dogherty; and her best friend, Naomi, with whom she shares the frustrations and unbridled glee of adolescence. 
 
Through these unwitting mentors and in her own encounters with sex, birth, and death, Del explores the dark and bright sides of womanhood. All along she remains a wise, witty observer and recorder of truths in small-town life. The result is a powerful, moving, and humorous demonstration of Alice Munro’s unparalleled awareness of the lives of girls and women.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375707490
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/13/2001
Series:	Vintage International
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	18,534
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.98(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Alice Munro is the author of thirteen collections of stories—including Dear Life, Runaway, and Too Much Happiness—as well as a novel, Lives of Girls and Women. Among the many awards and prizes she received are three Governor General’s Literary Awards and two Giller Prizes in Canada; the Rea Award; the Lannan Literary Award; the National Book Critics Circle Award; and the International Booker Prize. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and other publications, and her collections have been translated into thirteen languages. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Alice Munro died in 2024.

Hometown:

Clinton, Ontario, and Comox, British Columbia

Date of Birth:

July 10, 1931

Place of Birth:

Wingham, Ontario, Canada

Education:

University of Western Ontario (no degree)

Editorial Reviews

"Munro has an unerring talent for uncovering the extraordinary in the ordinary."—Newsweek

From the Publisher

Aspiring narrators and writers will be awed by the melodious symphony created by Judy Mahbey's interpretation of Munro's words. Mahbey's inflections, tones, and pacing harmonize beautifully with the unique imagery woven into the story of Del Jordan's adolescence. The narrator's pretty voice highlights the protagonist's struggles with religion, scholarship, and sex, and lends itself to characterization of Del's forward-thinking mother and more traditional best friend. Mahbey captures the genuine emotion wrapped up in a young girl's coming-of-age and is equally capable in moments of joy, despair, embarrassment, triumph, and confusion. It is difficult to imagine a better pairing of storyteller and reader. J.J.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

APR/MAY 06 - AudioFile