Friend of My Youth by Alice Munro

Lily King says: I return to this collection over and over for Munro’s clear voice and fearless storytelling.
 
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATUREA woman haunted by dreams of her dead mother. An adulterous couple stepping over the line where the initial excitement ends and the pain begins. A widow visiting a Scottish village in search of her husband's past - and instead discovering unsettling truths about a total stranger.

The ten stories in this collection not only astonish and delight but also convey the unspoken mysteries at the heart of all human experience.