Rumors of Alice Munro’s death have been greatly exaggerated! After a report that the Nobel-winning Canadian author had passed away was exposed as a hoax earlier this week, Lila Kwederis brought Munro’s first published short story to the “Books We Read” discussion group: “The Dimensions of a Shadow,” which first appeared in 1950.
In the story, a lonely teacher named Miss Abelhart talks to a former student about their unspoken mutual attraction. But how much of their conversation is real, and how much is she imagining? Munro provokes interesting questions about fantasy, shame, and the need to feel desired — and how we ought to feel about Miss Abelhart in the wake of a national conversation about inappropriate relationships in which men are typically the ones seen as abusing their authority. Further, we discussed how narrative techniques blur the line between what Miss Abelhart perceives and what’s really happening.