Wikipedia:

"Unless, first published by Fourth Estate, an imprint of Harper Collins in 2002, is the final novel by Canadian writer Carol Shields. Semi-autobiographical, it was the capstone to Shields's writing career: she died shortly after its publication in 2003. The work was widely acclaimed and nominated for the Booker Prize, the Giller Prize, the Governor General's Award, the Orange Prize for Fiction, and received the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. In 2011, it was a finalist in the Canada Reads competition, where it was defended by actor Lorne Cardinal. Like many of her works (especially The Stone Diaries), Unless explores the extraordinary that lies within the ordinary lives of ordinary women.

The novel is narrated in first person by 44-year-old writer and translator, Reta Winters. The book proceeds as a linear series of reflections by Reta, elliptically coming to the thematic center of the story: the seemingly arbitrary decision of Reta's college-aged daughter Norah to drop out of university and live on the street with a cardboard sign affixed to her chest that reads "Goodness". Although the novel does not in any way proceed like a mystery, the reasons for Norah's departure from the normal world are Reta's primary motivation in writing. In parallel, her relationship with her French mentor (a Holocaust survivor and poet) drives much of her narration and view of herself.

The novel deals extensively with the role of women and in particular, women's literature. Late in the novel, Reta starts to break from herself and write in character as a disenfranchised female writer. The underlying theme is that the lives of women are underwritten, ignored, and dealt with as "trivial" by the literary establishment. The novel also functions largely as an investigation into the role of writing in general (independent of gender). Reta's grief over her daughter's state makes her very inwardly focussed on the process of writing. A reflection of this is shown in the title of the book and the chapter titles. "Unless" and the chapter titles ("therefore", "else", "instead") are all words that are used to couch the fragmented manner in which life fits together. As Shields writes, "A life is full of isolated events, but these events, if they are to form a coherent narrative, require odd pieces of language to link them together, little chips of grammar (mostly adverbs or prepositions) that are hard to define [...] words like therefore, else, other, also, thereof, therefore, instead, otherwise, despite, already, and not yet.""

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I read another copy of this book. My journal entry is here: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6132444/

Jlautner picked this from collectorkerri's first sentences VBB. Enjoy!

Arrived in the mail this week. Thank you, Annimanni!! It looks good.

I very much liked this book. I was a little worried about the titles of the chapters - "so", "instead", "hence", ...and of course "unless" - worried that this might go stream-of-consciousness. But I need not have been concerned. The book has a trajectory that takes us along.

Reta Winters, a capable parent and writer, is thrown when her oldest daughter, Norah, suddenly drops out from school and sits on a street corner holding a begging bowl and wearing a sign that says "goodness". She worries about her daughter's safety, her health, her emotional state. She wonders why. Why this particular act? Her daughter does not offer an explanation.

Meanwhile, Reta writes letters to male authors about the exclusion of women in their lists, their perceptions, but doesn't mail them. She continues to translate a French feminist's work and lives within it. Her life in her family continues without Norah.

Quietly, other members of the family "visit" Norah or help her in other ways. She won't explain herself but they love her and try not to intrude.

Reta has written a light novel which has found such success that her publisher wants a sequel. Reluctantly, Reta agrees, but over time the new novel morphs into something altogether different.

As others have done, I will repeat Shields' statement here:

"A life is full of isolated events, but these events, if they are to form a coherent narrative, require odd pieces of language to cement them together, little chips of grammar (mainly adverbs or prepositions) that are hard to define, since they are abstractions of location or relative position, words like therefore, else, other, also, thereof, theretofore, instead, otherwise, despite, already, and not yet."

She amplifies:"...what really is the point of novel writing when the unjust world howls and writhes...unless they can provide an alternative, hopeful course, they're just so much narrative crumble".

As I struggle with Reta to make sense of her life, I agree with many others that this novel is not narrative crumble. It's deeply moving and engaging.

Reserved for bookstogive's general lit book box.

I removed myself from the gen lit book box, and therefore this book is free to roam elsewhere now.

On a table outside.