2009
Too Much Happiness
Alice Munro · 1931–2024 · Canada
Why it matters
Domestic violence and its long aftermath recur across ten stories, from a husband's shocking act of filicide to a woman revisiting her long-ago assailant, building to a title novella about the brilliant, thwarted mathematician Sofya Kovalevskaya. Munro's darkest, most historically expansive collection.
At a glance
short story collectionpsychological novel
Difficulty 6/10medium pace303 pagesDarker material and a biographical title novella push beyond Munro's usual small-town compression.
Where to go next
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Alice Munro · 1978Who Do You Think You Are?Lvl 5Medium pace
Alice Munro · 2001Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, MarriageLvl 5Medium pace
Alice Munro · 2004RunawayLvl 5Medium pace
Alice Munro · 2012Dear LifeLvl 5Medium pace
Elizabeth Strout · 2008Olive KitteridgeLvl 4Medium pace