"Illinois"

by Alice Munro

 "Illinois" appeared as a story in the collection  The View from Castle Rock (2006) which is Alice Munro's latest collection of short stories.
The book includes the following stories:

• Part One / No Advantages
  • "No Advantages"
  • "The View from Castle Rock"
  • "Illinois"
  • "The Wilds of Morris Township"
  • "Working for a Living"
• Part Two / Home
  • "Fathers"
  • "Lying Under the Apple Tree"
  • "Hired Girl"
  • "The Ticket"
  • "Home"
  • "What Do You Want to Know For?"
• Epilogue
  • "Messenger"

  Story Summary

This story, written by Alice Munro, takes place in different countries, states and places. It first starts in the Highlands, where  Andrew Laidlaw, his sister in law, and her four kids, had to travel back to Illinois after receiving a letter from the states that was telling him that his father was dead. So this chapter is all about their trip all together, but every single character has their own demon to face. The mother of the kids is all disturbed because she has to leave her home and friends. Especially her half-Indian friend and neighbor that helped her a lot raise her kids. The entire story take place in the end of the 19^th and beginning of the 20^th century. The one thing that happened in this chapter that is very important is when the entire group stopped at an inn, near a forest and during their first night, the baby, that was only a few moths old, disappeared. All the suspicious went to the half-Indian neighbor that they left behind. Because, the more the go on, you realize that Becky Johnson, the Indian, loved that baby very much. But many people thought that the baby was kidnapped by someone in the inn. On another side of the story, the author tells you the story of two young teenagers in the small village where the town is that discovered the baby in some sort of shelter. At the end of the chapter, you realize that the baby was found by the uncle of the family. And they take back the road to go to their destination.