"Unicorns are wily animals." The idea of unicorns as an "infestation" is an unusual, twist; usually people seek out unicorns, but in "An Infestation of Unicorns" the monks would like them to go away and stay away.

Yet Cranford Abbey is on the annual migration route of a herd of unicorns, and the efforts of the monks to drive them away only result in injured monks; the apples are eaten, anyway. This is a confrontation of man against nature, with nature in the form of hungry, smart unicorns defying the wishes of human beings.

The story of the confrontation and its resolution is told through three characters, Abbot Aelian, James, and Sandy. Abbot Aelian is a nicely drawn figure—well rounded in his good and bad qualities. He is a sensitive man and self-conscious about his position: "He [Abbot Aelian] felt that the...