The theme of this short story collection is the various roads that individuals travel down in the name of love. The characters vary as the stories vary.
Love can be man and woman, mother and daughter, siblings, etc.
The stories do not always end happily ever after as the characters dive deeper into the morass due to one exposure after another of some dark secrets. Alice Munro has a deserved reputation for some of the best literary works of the nineties. Though several of the eight stories are excellent, some of the tales seem to need constant shock therapy to keep the heart pumping as Ms. Munro reveals one new disjointed surprise after another to keep the story line moving. Overall, this is a fabulous book, but readers need to be aware that it is not on the Munro level of quality.