Adult

Alice Munro’s peerless ability to give us the essence of a life in often brief but always spacious and timeless stories is once again apparent everywhere in her new collection. In story after story, she illumines the moment a life is forever altered by a chance encounter or an action not taken, or by a simple twist of fate that turns a person out of his or her accustomed path and into a new way of being or thinking.

Set in 1972 during the Cold War, England's legendary intelligence agency MI5 embarks on an operation code-named "Sweet Tooth" to fund writers whose politics align with those of the government. Cambridge student Serena Frome is hired to infiltrate the literary circle of a promising young writer named Tom Haley. But when she begins to fall in love with him, she wonders how long she can conceal her undercover life.

Jake Lassiter, the linebacker-turned-lawyer, faces overwhelming odds. He represents Cadillac Johnson, an aging rhythm and blues musician who claims his greatest song was stolen by a top-of-the-charts hip-hop artist. Only a few years out of law school, Lassiter is already developing his iconoclastic rules. "I will live by no code but my own." This time, that code could leave him disbarred or bankrupt...or worse.

Keira Johnson discovers a life-jarring fact her late mother kept hidden all her life. Kiera was born out of wedlock, and the man she had always known as her father had adopted her as an infant. Meanwhile, Keira's niece, Kirsten, has just discovered an unwanted pregnancy. As the family comes together for a reunion, Keira and Kirsten struggle with their fractured pasts and jumbled present.