A young girl, the first person narrator, goes to work at a turkey slaughter house where she hopes to overcome doubts about her capabilities. Munro then uses the character to discover the facts and faults of the workers around her via her observations. There are women who are married and bitter, a young pregnant girl, a foreman whom the narrator and others look up to and wonder about.
There are small intimacies in conversation that reveal the hopelessness of some workers against the hopeful dreams of the others as they interact within an environment that delineates a family-type work space while they share little of their more personal lives outside the turkey barn. Munro brings in some conflict via the foreman's young friend who is brash, sensual, and obnoxious and lazy. When he is finally fired, the women seem to form a new bond with each other under the spirit of the holiday season.
Munro is a master of character and there is enough in the action of the story to satisfy plot. Not great, but a good read.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology