Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage

First edition
Author	Alice Munro
Language	English
Genre	Short story collection
Publisher	McClelland & Stewart
Publication date	2001
Publication place	Canada
Pages	322 pages
ISBN	0771065256
OCLC	798635005

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage is a critically acclaimed collection of short stories by Canadian author Alice Munro, published by McClelland and Stewart in 2001.

The collection features eight intricate stories exploring themes of love, marriage, aging, and human relationships, including the titular story about an unlikely romance sparked by a teenage prank, and "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," a poignant examination of love and memory in the face of illness.

The book received widespread acclaim, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.

Stories

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage

Johanna, a plain and practical housekeeper, is tricked by two teenage girls into believing she has a romantic admirer through forged love letters. Taking the letters seriously, she moves to marry Ken Boudreau, the supposed author, and unexpectedly builds a new life with him despite the prank's cruel origins.

Floating Bridge

Jinny, a woman battling cancer, experiences a profound moment of connection and renewal when she shares an intimate encounter with a stranger on a floating bridge. This fleeting moment contrasts with her strained marriage and offers her a sense of vitality amidst her illness.

Family Furnishings

A young woman reflects on her relationship with her vibrant and unconventional aunt, Alfrida. Over time, the narrator uncovers family secrets that reshape her understanding of Alfrida and the sacrifices she made.

Comfort

Nina deals with the emotional aftermath of her husband Lewis's assisted suicide due to his debilitating illness. The story explores love, autonomy, and grief as Nina reflects on their shared life and his decision to end it on his terms.

Nettles

A chance encounter between childhood friends, Kevin and the narrator, rekindles memories of their shared past. Their meeting stirs unresolved feelings and highlights the impact of time on relationships and personal growth.

Post and Beam

Lorna struggles with dissatisfaction in her seemingly perfect life as she navigates her marriage to Brendan and her friendship with Polly. A visit from Polly brings tensions to the surface, forcing Lorna to confront her inner turmoil.

What Is Remembered

Meriel recalls a brief but passionate affair with a doctor early in her marriage. This memory becomes a defining moment for her as she reflects on its significance compared to the rest of her life.

Queenie

Chrissy recounts the story of her older sister, Queenie, who marries an older man and becomes estranged from their family. Through Chrissy's perspective, we see Queenie struggle with isolation and regret in her new life.

The Bear Came Over the Mountain

Fiona enters a care facility due to Alzheimer's disease, where she forms an attachment to another resident, Aubrey. Her husband, Grant, grapples with guilt over his past infidelities while navigating his love for Fiona and his attempts to honor her happiness in this new chapter.

Prior publications

"The Bear Came Over the Mountain" was originally published on its own in The New Yorker on 27 December 1999, where it was republished on 21 October 2013. "Queenie" was originally published on its own in London Review of Books on 30 July 1998.

Reception

The Daily Telegraph reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Times, Independent, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, Independent On Sunday, New Statesman, Spectator, and Literary Review reviews under "Love It" and TLS review under "Pretty Good". According to Book Marks, primarily from American publications, the book received a "rave" consensus, based on nine critic reviews: seven "rave" and two "positive".

In his review for the New York Times, William H. Pritchard drew connections between Munro's work in this collection to fellow North American authors, Eudora Welty and Flannery O' Connor, while maintaining his praise of her way of making "certain fictional places -- and a fictional voice -- unmistakably and distinctively her own." In pointing to the influence of O'Connor on the titular story, "Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage," he notes that "if the story were by Flannery O'Connor ... it would have ended in a comedy of the grotesque, with the deluded spinster brought face-to-face with her folly," while "Munro resists the doctrinaire satirist's temptation to humiliate and deprive her seemingly hapless protagonist: Johanna's story is other than the story of pride brought low."

The collection was a National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction Finalist, listed in the New York Times and Time magazine Best Fiction Books, and received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. It is listed #23 on The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list.

"The Bear Came Over the Mountain" features as the closing piece in the 2008 short story collection, My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro, edited by novelist Jeffrey Eugenides.

Adaptations

Two of the stories were adapted into films.

Based on "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" the 2006 film, Away From Her, was the feature-length directorial debut of fellow Canadian Sarah Polley, who also wrote the screenplay.

The 2014 film Hateship, Loveship was based on the titular story. Moving the setting from 1950s rural Ontario to present-day Iowa, the story was adapted by Mark Poirier, directed by Liza Johnson, and marked the feature-length dramatic debut of popular comedic actress Kristen Wiig.