Unless - P.S. by Carol Shields Paperback

About the Book

Reta Winters, 44-year-old author of light summertime fiction and mother of three beautiful teenage daughters, has always considered herself happy, even blessed. That is, until her oldest daughter Norah mysteriously abandons college to become a panhandler on a Toronto street corner--uncommunicative but for a sign around her neck bearing the word "Goodness."

Book Synopsis

"Nothing short of astonishing." -- New Yorker

"A thing of beauty--lucidly written, artfully ordered, riddled with riddles and undergirded with dark layers of philosophical meditations." -- Los Angeles Times

The final book from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carol Shields, Unless, is a harrowing but ultimately consoling story of one family's anguish and healing, proving Shields's mastery of extraordinary fiction about ordinary life.

For all of her life, 44 year old Reta Winters has enjoyed the useful monotony of happiness: a loving family, good friends, growing success as a writer of light 'summertime' fiction. But this placid existence is cracked wide open when her beloved eldest daughter, Norah, drops out to sit on a gritty street corner, silent but for the sign around her neck that reads 'GOODNESS.' Reta's search for what drove her daughter to such a desperate statement turns into an unflinching and surprisingly funny meditation on where we find meaning and hope.

From the Back Cover

Forty-four-year-old Reta Winters, wife, mother, writer, and translator, is living a happy life until one of her three daughters drops out of university to sit on a downtown street corner silent and cross-legged with a begging bowl in her lap and a placard round her neck that says "Goodness."

The final book from Pulitzer Prize-winner Carol Shields, Unless is a candid and deeply moving novel from one of the twentieth century's most accomplished and beloved authors.

Review Quotes

"A brave, profound, and quirky novel with an undercurrent of the deeply amusing." - Anita Shreve, author of Sea Glass
"A wonderful, powerful book, written in a style which combines simplicity and elegance. I found it deeply moving." - Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat
"A landmark book...yet another noteworthy addition to Shields's impressive body of work." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Marvelously idiosyncratic, passionate and wise, Shields' tenth novel rollicks from beginning to end with sauciness and wit." - Book Magazine
"All novelists worth their fictional salt can create fine characters; Carol Shields creates lives. " - New York Times Book Review
"A superb new novel...a graceful coda, an arabesque performed over an abyss." - Time magazine
"All novelists worth their fictional salt can create fine characters; Carol Shields creates lives. " - New York Times Book Review
"An illuminating novel. [Shields is]...unsparing as she explores the black holes of uncertainty in women's lives." - Chicago Tribune
"A raw, subtle, inspiring novel about feminism, femininity, virtue, oppression and motherhood...I was inexpressibly moved by it." - Rachel Cusk, Daily Telegraph (London)
"Her wisdom and generosity of spirit are visible at every turn." - London Times (Sunday)
"Finely detailed, thoughtful and sometimes even humorous, this book is highly recommended for all fiction collections." - Library Journal
"Often quietly heartbreaking...often, bitingly humorous." - Kirkus (starred review)
"Nothing short of astonishing." - The New Yorker
"All the trademark Shields delights are robustly present: idiosyncratic plotting; limber prose...deep compassion...tart commentary and irreverent wit." - Orlando Sentinel
"Entirely satisfying... Shields' voice, tender and moderated at all times, remains wise and very readable." - Houston Chronicle
"Shields's novels and short stories are intensely imagined, humanely generous, beautifully sustained and impeccably detailed." - Publishers Weekly
"With a poet's precision, Shields dissects grief and makes coping with bad luck feel like domestic heroism." - People
"Relentlessly fine...imagined with style and vigor, melancholoy and wisdom." - San Diego Union-Tribune
"Some hefty perceptions, fortunately shared with us in this fine novel." - Washington Post Book World
"Unless succeeds beautifully...Shields [is] an expert at illuminating the complicated dynamics of off-kilter families." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Closely observed moments create the kind of subtle textures and elegant prose that won Ms. Shields the Pulitzer Prize." - Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Truly, a miracle of language and perception." - The Oregonian (Portland)
"When Shields is good she is very good. There are nuggets of pure gold in Unless." - Newark Star Ledger
"Nothing short of astonishing." - The New Yorker
"A novel of...assured intelligence and defiant vivacity." - San Francisco Chronicle
"A fitting farewell from an author revered for her graceful, insightful writing...sparkles with wry humor and elegant irony." - Hartford Courant
"An engaging, memorable novel." - Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A superb new novel...a graceful coda, an arabesque performed over an abyss." - Time Magazine
"The best of her novels...fearless, smart, funny, beautifully written." - New Orleans Times-Picayune
"A fine book, poignant, witty, rich in character, vivid in its sense of place...surprisingly suspenseful." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Remarkably subtle and unsettling...one of those books that make you regret that reading is a solitary pleasure." - Christian Science Monitor
"A thing of beauty--lucidly written, artfully ordered, riddled with riddles and undergirded with dark layers of philosophical meditations." - Los Angeles Times
"Luminous ... Shields is a consummate master of tone and acute psychological insight." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A luminous novel ...Shields writes with clarity, intelligence and generosity, finding meaning in most mundane details of home life." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel