Unless: A Novel (P.S.)
by Carol Shields
List Price:
Our Price: $1.49
You Save: $12.46 (89%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Carol ShieldsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-01-03
ISBN: 0060874406
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of Unless: A Novel (P.S.)
Book Review: Wise, and Witty -- A Nuanced Literary Treat
Summary: 5 Stars
Carol Shields' last novel, "Unless," is a refreshing intellectual and literary treat. I enjoyed this novel so much I read it twice in quick succession. The novel is a fitting capstone to an illustrious literary career.
There are three stories intertwined in this short novel. First, there is the story of Reta Winters, the mother, a woman whose 18-year-old daughter has inexplicably and suddenly dropped out of life to sit mute on a Toronto street corner panhandling with a sign around her neck reading, "GOODNESS." Second, it is the story of Reta Winters, the author, a woman in the process of writing a comic novel called "My Thyme is Up" and also assisting her feminist mentor, Danielle Westerman, translate her childhood memoirs. Finally, it is the story of Reta Winters, the feminist, a woman quietly raging against the marginalization of women in all walks of life, but especially in the world of literary publishing.
Much of the novel focuses on the nature of goodness. Reta wonders if her daughter's homelessness is some kind of protest against female powerlessness. Perhaps her daughter has suddenly become aware that she must settle for goodness, since greatness still appears to be a realm reserved for men only.
Reta is a 44-year old Canadian writer and translator living in rural Orangetown, Ontario. Reta is a writer in the process of creating a novel...so there is this fascinating infinite digression about a woman writer writing a novel about another woman writer writing a novel. Winters has much to say about the process of writing that is both humorous and insightful, but mostly she rants brilliantly about the marginalization of woman authors.
Reta is a charming, social, busy woman with many friends and responsibilities. She is an intellectual, a feminist, and a social activist. She and her common-law husband, Tom, have three daughters. Until her eldest daughter suddenly takes up living as a homeless person on the streets of Toronto, Reta has been living a life of extraordinary familial happiness. As the book opens, Reta's world is shattered by the loss of her daughter to the streets of Toronto. Her heart is broken--she is grieving, and desperate to understand her daughter's behavior. The novel takes place over the course of a year as Reta copes with her loss and ultimately comes to understand the motivation behind her daughter's actions.
The novel is chock full of feminist rage and humor. The homeless daughter plot holds the piece together, but it is insignificant against the weight of the whole. In my estimation, the whole hangs together mainly through the irresistible wellspring of interior musings from Reta's mind. What keeps you reading is finding out as much as you can about this very real, and most intriguing protagonist.
"Unless" is overflowing with life--a work brimming with ambiguity and nuance. This book is so alive, I swear...one has just to pick it up to feel the heartbeat within.
Summary of Unless: A Novel (P.S.)
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.
United States Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in United States Books
Mirth of a Nation: The Best Contemporary Humorby Michael J. Rosen
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2000-02-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Gifts of the Bodyby Rebecca Brown
Harper Perennial; Published: 1995-08-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.96
Price in other shops:
Love and Liesby Kimberla Lawson Roby
William Morrow; Published: 2007-01-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.96
Price in other shops:
Blues Dancing: A Novelby Diane Mckinney-Whetstone
HarperTorch; Published: 2005-03-29; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Red, White & Liberal: How Left Is Right & Right Is Wrongby Alan Colmes
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2004-10-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Hunger Point: A Novelby Jillian Medoff
Harpercollins; Published: 1997-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
The Price of Bloodby Chuck Logan
Harpercollins; Published: 1997-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.99
Blue Hour: Poemsby Carolyn Forche
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.93
Price in other shops:
Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoirby Laurie Albanese
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Kindness of Strangers: A Novelby Katrina Kittle
William Morrow; Published: 2006-01-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
A Simple PlanTHORNTON,BILLY BOB; Release date: 1999-06-22; DVD
Best price: $19.90
For the Relief of Unbearable Urges: Storiesby Nathan Englander
Vintage; Published: 2000-03-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.15
Price in other shops:
The Stone Diaries: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)by Carol Shields
Penguin Classics; Published: 2008-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.11
Price in other shops:
Feminism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)by Margaret Walters
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2006-01-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.55
Price in other shops:
A Room of One's Own (Annotated)by Virginia Woolf
Mariner Books; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.77
Price in other shops:
Dog Years: A Memoir (P.S.)by Mark Doty
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.23
Price in other shops:
Death of a Salesman (Viking Critical Library)by Arthur Miller
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1996-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Sulaby Toni Morrison
Vintage; Published: 2004-06-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.89
Price in other shops:
Happiness: The Science behind Your Smileby Daniel Nettle
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2006-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.66
Price in other shops:
Park City: New and Selected Storiesby Ann Beattie
Vintage; Published: 1999-06-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops: