This was clearly beautifully written and well-constructed, and I am curious about Alice Munro. There was a recent Book Riot podcast that mentioned her after her recent death, and this episode of the New Yorker: Fiction podcast felt like an important listen in the literary world. I’m glad that they chose this notable author, and I find it fascinating that she won the Nobel without ever writing a novel, committing to the form of the short story.

This particular story was an epistolary story, written by the author ostensibly to her former fiancé but more honestly as a journal to herself in the days, weeks, and months after her broken engagement, pregnancy, childbirth and adoption, since she has returned to her father’s home and medical practice. She discovers that her father performs underground abortions, with the assistance of their family maid, who seems to be blackmailing both the father and the narrator, perhaps stealing their money. 

This story had so many shifts and changes, without a clear climax or plot twist. It’s very interior, which I tend to like, but I don’t think I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of this particular plot. I think I want to love this, but instead I just appreciated it. Perhaps it is worthwhile for me to read one of Alice Munro’s books in print. 

I do love the banter between the hosts of this episode about Alice Munro herself, especially because she had so many stories published in The New Yorker, edited by Deborah Treisman herself.