Simon Vance

One day, when Andrea was visiting, Munro told her about a short story from a recently published book, Marine Life by Linda Svensson, in which a girl commits suicide after being abused by her father. Why didn't she tell her mother, asked Munro, who wrote in a blurb for the book that the story left her shaking. A month later, Andrea sent her a letter.

One day, when Andrea was visiting, Munro told her about a short story from a recently published book, Marine Life by Linda Svensson, in which a girl commits suicide after being abused by her father. Why didn't she tell her mother, asked Munro, who wrote in a blurb for the book that the story left her shaking. A month later, Andrea sent her a letter.

When you told me about that story, she wrote, I wanted to cry and hold you and thank you and tell you. I have been afraid all my life that you would blame me for what happened. Munro's response made it clear that she was right to be afraid. It was as if she had learned of an infidelity, Andrea recalled in her essay for The Star. Monroe left Fremlin and fled to their condo on Vancouver Island.

When you told me about that story, she wrote, I wanted to cry and hold you and thank you and tell you. I have been afraid all my life that you would blame me for what happened. Munro's response made it clear that she was right to be afraid. It was as if she had learned of an infidelity, Andrea recalled in her essay for The Star. Monroe left Fremlin and fled to their condo on Vancouver Island.

When Andrea visited her there, she was amazed by Monroe's self-pity. She believed my father had made us keep the secret in order to humiliate her, Andrea wrote. She then told me about other children Fremlin had friendships with, emphasising her own sense that she personally had been betrayed.

When Andrea visited her there, she was amazed by Monroe's self-pity. She believed my father had made us keep the secret in order to humiliate her, Andrea wrote. She then told me about other children Fremlin had friendships with, emphasising her own sense that she personally had been betrayed.

Fremlin, meanwhile, sent a series of unhinged letters to the family in which he acknowledged the abuse, but claimed that it was Andrea who seduced him. The family did what families often do after an episode of abuse. They carried on as if nothing happened. Munro took Fremlin back after just a few weeks, and for years Andrea continued to visit them.

Fremlin, meanwhile, sent a series of unhinged letters to the family in which he acknowledged the abuse, but claimed that it was Andrea who seduced him. The family did what families often do after an episode of abuse. They carried on as if nothing happened. Munro took Fremlin back after just a few weeks, and for years Andrea continued to visit them.

It was the arrival of her own children, twins born in 2002, that brought clarity to her emotional haze. Andrea told her mother she didn't want Fremlin anywhere near them. Munro objected that visiting without Fremlin would be inconvenient because she couldn't drive. I blew my top, Andrea told a reporter for the Star.

It was the arrival of her own children, twins born in 2002, that brought clarity to her emotional haze. Andrea told her mother she didn't want Fremlin anywhere near them. Munro objected that visiting without Fremlin would be inconvenient because she couldn't drive. I blew my top, Andrea told a reporter for the Star.

I started to scream into the phone about having to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze that penis, and at some point I asked her how she could have sex with someone who'd done that to her daughter. The next day, Munro called her back. Not to apologize, but to forgive Andrea for how she had spoken to her. It was the end of their relationship.

I started to scream into the phone about having to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze that penis, and at some point I asked her how she could have sex with someone who'd done that to her daughter. The next day, Munro called her back. Not to apologize, but to forgive Andrea for how she had spoken to her. It was the end of their relationship.

In 2004, this magazine ran a profile of Munro, who was about to publish her eleventh book, the widely celebrated Runaway. Throughout the article, Munro speaks lovingly of Fremlin, whom she says she was enormously lucky to have met. She is also described as being close today to her three daughters. Flawed by her mother's dishonesty, Andrea felt as if she was being erased.

In 2004, this magazine ran a profile of Munro, who was about to publish her eleventh book, the widely celebrated Runaway. Throughout the article, Munro speaks lovingly of Fremlin, whom she says she was enormously lucky to have met. She is also described as being close today to her three daughters. Flawed by her mother's dishonesty, Andrea felt as if she was being erased.

She gathered the letters that Fremlin sent in 1992 and took them to the police. When an officer arrived at their house to arrest him, he reported that Munro was apoplectic, denouncing her daughter as a liar. In March 2005, Fremlin, then 80, quietly pleaded guilty to indecent assault and was sentenced to two years' probation. For years, Andrea tried to make her story public with no success.

She gathered the letters that Fremlin sent in 1992 and took them to the police. When an officer arrived at their house to arrest him, he reported that Munro was apoplectic, denouncing her daughter as a liar. In March 2005, Fremlin, then 80, quietly pleaded guilty to indecent assault and was sentenced to two years' probation. For years, Andrea tried to make her story public with no success.

In 2005, she approached the Canadian academic Robert Thacker, who was putting the final touches on a biography of Monroe, and asked him to include the abuse in his book. After stewing on it for a day or two, he declined. "'I'm an archival scholar,' he told me, explaining his decision. "'That's not the kind of book I was writing.'

In 2005, she approached the Canadian academic Robert Thacker, who was putting the final touches on a biography of Monroe, and asked him to include the abuse in his book. After stewing on it for a day or two, he declined. "'I'm an archival scholar,' he told me, explaining his decision. "'That's not the kind of book I was writing.'

What he was writing, he said, was a biography of Alice Munro's texts. The distinction is hard to sustain. Munro's stories, particularly those from the years after she learned of the abuse, are full of violated children, negligent mothers, and marriages founded on secrets and lies.

What he was writing, he said, was a biography of Alice Munro's texts. The distinction is hard to sustain. Munro's stories, particularly those from the years after she learned of the abuse, are full of violated children, negligent mothers, and marriages founded on secrets and lies.