When I asked a colleague which Alice Munro book I should read first, he recommended this one to me. I started reading it two months ago, but it took me such a long time because of the dense style of the beginning of the novel, about the settlers who went to North America. When Munro gets around to the 20th century however, I was intrigued and I quickly finished the rest of the book. I love her style in the modern part of the novel. She writes subtly, vividly, letting you look closely at the main character, but not showing you everything, so you have to make up your own mind about her. For some reason I was reminded of The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields. They both describe the consciousness of (young) women in a completely beautiful way - relatable yet distanced and completely enticing. I long to read more by Alice Munro.