"From a High Thin Wire" introduced a powerful new voice into Canadian fiction. The ten frank yet subtle stories in Joan Clark's debut collection explore how childhood experiences shape adult choices. A woman rages against the "eye of God" that has seen the miner's son she once loved reduced to a mute old man; sisters come home to bury their mother, whose sudden death plunges them into confusion; a minister's daughter deals summarily with marauding dogs. In every story, Clark peels away the skin, exposing the network of influences that make people act as they do.