Axis

January 31, 2011: Axis by Alice Munro

Fortunately, Grace and Avie were both attractive. Grace was fair and stately, Avie red-haired, less voluptuous, lively, and challenging. Male members of both their families had joked that they ought to be able to nab somebody.

Anton Chekhov is alive and well and living in Canada. “Axis” is a miniature novel, compressing four lives into a few pages and a handful of critical moments; this is short fiction at its best.