Multi-narratives are artifacts that juxtapose single narratives. This arrangement creates a
productive tension within the artifact that is larger than the sum of its parts. Reading
multi-narratives is a twofold process: first distinct local narratives within a work often
create disruption and incongruity. Second and at the same time this heterogeneity invites a
'bringing together' or 'making sense of' the relationship among the constituent narratives. In
several close-readings this volume explores key aspects of such multi-narrative interplay in
works by Kate Atkinson Julian Barnes Louise Erdrich Jackie Kay Richard McGuire Cynthia
Ozick and Lionel Shriver.
