I'd never heard of Mavis Gallant (1922-2014). Perhaps I should be embarrassed to admit this in public, because she was a respected, prolific writer. Over 100 of her short stories were published in The New Yorker, the first in 1951.

Jhumpa Lahiri credits Mavis as "the single most important influence on her own writing."

Mavis was a Canadian from Quebec who worked first as a journalist before deciding to be a full-time fiction writer. She made Paris her home.

There are nine stories in this collection, each of which is concerned in some way with World War II, before, during, and after: From the lazy coastal life of southern France and northwest Italy before the war, to what it was like in Italy, France, and Germany during the war, to how people adjust to the changing world in the years immediately following the war and well on into the the Cold War.

In "The Four Seasons" there's a completely self-absorbed English family living on the northwest coast of Italy prior to WWII who are certain war will not break out because Hilter and Mussolini say they don't want war. When war comes they stubbornly insist they won't be bullied out of the country. Inevitably, they are desperate to leave.

"The Moslem Wife" is a fascinating story about a woman hotel owner in the south of France who deals with the changing tides of the war and the ghosts it leaves, such as one man who "got on the wrong side of the right side at the wrong time." Her husband is stuck in America during the war and she realizes she can't write anything real to him about her situation and so there are silences in her letters, the "silence imposed by the impossibility of telling anything real." It's a story about the realities of war for civilians, a story that breaks the silence that is too often unbreakable in real life.

In "The Latehomecomer" we see the anger of a young German man who was a POW in France until 1950. His anger is not at the French or the Russians, but the older generations of German men--men who hid below ground in the relative safety of bunkers while teenage boys and then teenage girls pulled anti-aircraft duty above. In this story we see how deeply war shapes and changes life--from who women marry and why to what names newborns receive to what men do in the kitchen--and how one's lot is shaped by social-economic status in war and peace.

All of the stories were breathtaking to read for the first time and some made me want to reread them immediately. One such is "His Mother," the story of a mother whose life and the changing circumstances of life in the Soviet Union are revealed in thoughts around letters to her son who defected to Glasgow on a soccer trip.

The stories are literary fiction, to be sure. There is no standard plot that drives the stories. I found myself reading slowly to absorb the story, yet turning the pages quickly to see what would happen next. What morsel of insight was around the corner? Would a long suffering character find some relief? What slap upside the head would a deluded character receive?

These are stories that tell deep truths about life and war and how people carry on in world that has been forever altered. And although the collection ends on a high note, these stories will take you through the wringer.

This review originally appeared on my blog. Visit the link to enter to win a digital copy through 1/19/15 : http://wildmoobooks.blogspot.com/2015/01/from-fifteenth-district-stories-by.html. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review through France Book tours. ( )

These stories feature exiles and others in Europe around WWII and after. In the title story ghosts of the dead are haunted by the living. In “Potter” a Polish lecturer pines for his young, feckless Canadian lover in Paris. A family of British expatriates exist in Italy where the husband and father is dying and WWII approaches in “The Remission.” Another British family takes advantage of a young Italian girl they have hired as a nanny.

Some of the stories have appeared in other collections and are just as enjoyable the second or third time around, but there is an air of judgement hanging over many of the characters which can be wearing. ( )

i was very disappointed. mavis is so famous but i can't remember any of these stories! ( )

These nine short stories were a pleasure to read and savor, not only because they are beautifully written, but because the characters, most of them émigrés after the Second World War, feel authentic and real. And although they are ordinary people, Mavis Gallant writes in such a skillful way that we really care about their plain and only slightly dramatic lives. It is true that a quality of sadness pervades most of the stories, but the ironical and humorous details are also everywhere. All the stories are remarkable and this collection is a must-read for any short-fiction lover. ( )

An unforgettable collection of literary short stories. Gallant’s prose is striking in its simplicity and precise style. Complexities of displacement, and alienation with questionable conclusions unveiled. Character interconnections streamlined with absolute perfection.
Nine stories taking place in Europe post Second World War exploring the frailty and plight of relationships. In one story an English family exits to the south of France to escape England’s rationing and debt under the guise of their father’s poor health. An actor, once a French soldier in Algeria, is gainfully employed in Paris. A self absorbed English family living on the Italian Riviera unconvinced Mussolini and the Germans may impact their lives greatly.
A provoking collection of short stories examining human relationships with keen observation and depth, fatalistic and compassionate. ( )