The blurbs weren't lying when they said Munro fits what feels like a full novel in each of her stories. Her prose is decisive, descriptive, full-bodied. The use of third-person limited (and occasionally omniscient) POV is smart here as it gives the reader a feeling that "what has been will always be." This intergenerational continuation of events is a theme prominent from the first story. Each piece bounces between generations, looking at people, businesses, place, and Canadian border culture in a way that makes every character and each decision they make feel inevitable (a phenomenon highly praised by Zinsser's "On Writing Well"). It is mostly Munro's views of place throughout time that hold the stories together. Arguably, the main theme here is "history" in all its forms (personal, geographic, cultural).
Munro does engage with socio-economic class, particularly the dichotomy of how the "haves" view the world versus the "have not's." In comparison, Allison’s "Trash" does something similar, but remains zoomed in on the experience and associations that come from being a "have not." Perhaps this is partially due to the POV (Allison often writes in first-person which gives a feeling of rawness and immediacy), though Munro does have an air of "old-school" to her prose.
This can be found particularly in romance. Munro's depictions of romance feel driven by duty, obligation to maintain the status quo, and occasionally, as a means for escape (literally and metaphorically). Munro's characters feel like they are in a relationship because they haven't a choice, and because of this, they are frequently unfaithful to their partners for the same reason. Again, if we are to look at Allison we see relationships fueled by lust, desire, desperation. They too feel like inevitable relationships, but mostly because the characters appear as though they need the external validation from their partner where Munro's characters feel they need it from society at large.
