The View from Castle Rock
Alice Munro

The View from Castle Rock
Alice Munro
On a clear day, you could see ‘America’ from Edinburgh’s Castle Rock - or so said Alice Munro’s great-great-great-grandfather, James Laidlaw, when he had drink taken. Then, in 1818, Laidlaw left the parish of ‘no advantages’, of banked Presbyterian emotions and uncanny tales - where, like his more famous cousin James Hogg, he was born and bred - and sailed to the new world with his family. This is the story of those shepherds from the Ettrick Valley and their descendants, among them the author herself. They were a Spartan lot, who kept to themselves; showing off was frowned on, and fear was commonplace, at least for females…But opportunities present themselves for two strong-minded women in a ship’s close quarters; a father dies, and a baby vanishes en route from Illinois to Canada; another story hints at incest; childhood is short and hazardous. This is family history where imperfect recollections blur into fiction, where the past shows through the present like the tracks of a glacier on a geological map. First love flowers under an apple tree while lust rears its head in a barn; a restless mother with ideas beyond her station declines painfully; a father farms fox fur and turkeys; a clever girl escapes to college and then into a hasty marriage. Beneath the ordinary landscape there’s a different story - evocative, frightening, sexy, unexpected, gripping. Alice Munro tells it like no other.
This item is in-stock and will ship in 2-3 business days
We are currently experiencing delays in processing and delivering online orders. Click here for more information.
Please note, our stock data is updated overnight, and availability may change throughout the day. Prices are subject to change without notice.Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.

Arlington Park
$23.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Anonymous Lawyer
$19.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Buying a Piece of Paris
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Damned Utd
$19.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Out Stealing Horses
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Courage
$64.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Perfect Summer
$26.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

No One Belongs Here More Than You
$23.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Dear Life
$19.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Selected Stories
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Lives of Girls and Women
$19.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Friend of My Youth
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Open Secrets
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Runaway
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Queenie
$3.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Carried Away
$29.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Things We Didn’t See Coming
$24.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Year of Wonders
$19.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Cat’s Eye
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Wuthering Heights
$12.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

A Christmas Carol
$14.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...

The View from Castle Rock
$19.95Buy now
Finding stock availability...

Brooklyn
$22.99Buy now
Finding stock availability...