Short Story Collection: Mostly Alberta

R.G. Moyles is a professor of English at the University of Alberta and
the co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities: British Views
of Canada, 1880–1914.

These stories (which, one suspects, are rather autobiographical) portray
the sad and happy moments of rural life in Alberta. Among the characters
they depict are a female deaconess who reluctantly accepts her
appointment to a bush town, only to fall in love with the people and
place; a mail-order bride who arrives to find that her “intended”
has vamoosed; school-teachers who take pity on seemingly rejected
students; and a prairie housewife who finally finds fulfilment after the
death of her husband.

Though interesting and readable, and revealing a sensitivity to the
lifestyle of rural Alberta, the eight pieces that make up this
collection lack the essential conflict, the intense character portrayal,
and epiphanic moments that characterize the best stories. Moreover,
there is a blandness of imagery—a straightforwardness of
telling—that makes aesthetic pleasure rather hard to come by. And
while the stories are good at evoking memories, they are less successful
at evoking emotions.