From the Canadian Short Story Library, twelve stories from Desmond Pacey, a major figure in Canadian Literature and criticism. The twelve stories are typical of Pacey's story-telling technique and what emerges from them is a distinctive, even powerful optimism, charity, tolerance and deep understanding of human nature. The sombre side of life is honestly portrayed and juxtaposed against the importance of love as a unifying force. These stories, presented in a simple straightforward manner, reveal man as he is: fragile, vulnerable, capable of crude, selfish and irrational behaviour, subject to defeat and despair; but also, heroic, enlightened, capable of strength, wisdom, hope and joy.

Desmond Pacey (1917-1975) is a major figure in Canadian Literature and criticism. Member of the Royal Society of Canada, he was an outstanding scholar, leader in University education, and a significant creative artist. His works Frederick Phillip Grove (1945), Creative Writing in Canada: A Short History of English-Canadian Literature (1952), and Ten Canadian Poets (1957), to mention only a few, have had leadership impact on Canadian Scholarship. He won the Lorne Pierce Medal in 1972.

Introduction
Waken, Lords and Ladies Gay
The Picnic
The Boat
That Day in the Bush
When She Comes Over
On the Roman Road
The Test
The Mirror
The Trespasser
Aunt Polly
The Ghost of Reddleman Lane
The Lost Girl
Bibliography