Timeless longer form short stories-meant to be savored and reread.

Gallant is an elegant writer of short stories. This anthology of stories, first printed in the New Yorker, contains examinations of people living in Europe in the period from the 1930s to the 1970s. The subjects of each story are Europeans who are currently living in a country other than their native one. The subjects deal with relationships, places and times where they no longer belong. Sad stories but often with himprous details.

Mavis Gallant is a writer whom I have overlooked and it is to my shame because I discovered her with this newest publication of her short stories and novellas.These stories are truly wonderul. now that I have discovered her I will check out her earlierworks.
I happen to be interested in settings for stories and many of these are set in an appealing Europe even if it was during the war. I recommend this book to those who like short stories and fine writing. Your won't be disappointed.

A collection of short stories set in Europe after the end of World War II, these nine stories all deserve to be savored and read with time after to ponder and absorb the nuances. Mavis Gallant has a deft hand with construction of a short story, a skill that is apparent and highlighted with her clever use of description and emotive prose that brings forth the characters in ways that highlight the deprivations, relief and struggle each endured after the war.

Every word in a short story must count for something, often doing double duty to enlighten and instill a sense of the place or the person for the reader. What emerges is the humanity and the several ways in which we are all not so different, despite circumstances or actions. These are not the famous or lauded of the war years: each story is a ‘normal’ person, insignificant in the grand scheme but star of their own particular stories. These are stories of survival and perseverance against odds, some circumstantial, others self-imposed, and each brings plenty of fuel for imagination and empathy.

These are some masterfully crafted stories, bound to please fans of the genre, and a wonderful example for those new to short stories of how they should be written. Gallant has a tone that is varies between flippant or nonchalant, as if the characters are reacting to their situations, or the narration is simply an uninvolved being retelling what they see without great attachment. Yes, many are somber, and all seem to have a common them of not letting go, but the overall impression leaves you wanting more writing in this manner, even as each story stands alone perfectly well.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility