A Crack In the Wall

The 16 stories in "A Crack in the Wall" are all about ordinary people faced with learning how to get on with their lives in the face of some great loss or unexpected turn. The stories usually open in a sharp, arresting way and are based on an intriguing premise. For example, a widower spends several months eating the frozen meals prepared by his wife for him when she knew she was going to die. A compulsive kleptomaniac learns to rein in her habit by ordering everything online, but her boyfriend doesn't know her secret. A female cab driver picks up a man who is about to be caught up in the Edmonton tornado of 1987. A woman resolves to return to New Brunswick after a lifetime of living in Alberta and has to figure out what to do with all the family pets she has inherited after her children grew up and moved away. These down-to-earth stories have a certain whimsy but usually end with things working out for the best, though hard lessons have to be learned along the way.