Dance of the Happy Shades

By Alice Munro

Categories: Literature & Fiction

Dance of the Happy Shades (1968) by Alice Munro is her first collection of short stories. Its fifteen stories are set mostly in small towns and farms in southwestern Ontario. They follow children, adolescents and women through ordinary moments, from a girl watching her father at work to a piano teacher's final recital, in which hidden tensions and private discoveries come to the surface.

Recommended by 1 person

• Margaret Atwood: “I read Alice's book with great appreciation — I thought "Dance of the Happy Shades" and "The Peace of Utrecht" were particularly brilliant.”