The title, Figuring Grief, refers to the narrative process whereby mourning is depicted. In her textual analysis, Smythe explores various connections between representation and consolation. Drawing on genre and narratological theory, she outlines the development of the "fiction-elegy" as a sub-genre and suggests that the modernist writings of Woolf and Joyce are paradigmatic examples of the form. She then uses these paradigms as suggestive "reading models" for the interpretation of works by Gallant, Munro, and other contemporary fiction-elegists. Figuring Grief offers new readings of specific works and suggests that new ways of reading are both demanded and rewarded by a poetics of elegy.

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"There is much in this book that is thoughtful, insightful, and important ... Smythe's joint treatment of these two superb and significant writers is a 'breakthrough' in the field, and makes her study of great potential interest and value to Canadianists." Janice Kulyk Keefer, Department of English, University of Guelph. "This is a very helpful addition to the corpus of Gallant and Munro studies. No one has studied these two writers in this way yet, and Smythe has broken new ground in a number of important areas ... She makes a convincing and thorough argument for the importance of the elegiac form ... The scholarship is thorough and careful, and she has drawn on a wide range of material to formulate her argument." Neil Besner, Department of English, University of Winnipeg.

"There is much in this book that is thoughtful, insightful, and important ... Smythe's joint treatment of these two superb and significant writers is a 'breakthrough' in the field, and makes her study of great potential interest and value to Canadianists." Janice Kulyk Keefer, Department of English, University of Guelph.
"This is a very helpful addition to the corpus of Gallant and Munro studies. No one has studied these two writers in this way yet, and Smythe has broken new ground in a number of important areas ... She makes a convincing and thorough argument for the importance of the elegiac form ... The scholarship is thorough and careful, and she has drawn on a wide range of material to formulate her argument." Neil Besner, Department of English, University of Winnipeg.