Life is good- Unless (Unless - Carol Shields)

Member Name: Meggysmum

Product:	Unless - Carol Shields
Date:	13/11/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely Style

Disadvantages: Some issues needed more exploration

Joining a book club has led me to read literature that would not usually be my first choice. This has led to some interesting reads as well as some that are best forgotten. This is a book that I had not heard of but if I had seen it in a book-shop I may well have selected it anyway as the "blurb" sounded interesting.

--The Author--

Carol Shields was an American born Canadian. Her novel Stone Diaries is probably her most famous work and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1993. Unless was her last novel and it was written whilst she was fighting breast cancer and unfortunately she died shortly after it was published. This novel was short-listed for the Orange Prize and was actually awarded the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.

--The Plot--

Reta Winters is a lady in her early 40s. She appears to have a relatively conventional life and has gained increasing success as a writer of light fiction although she started her writing career as a translator. She has three daughters and a husband who is a local doctor. Her house is charming and she has a close circle of friends. However her world is not as ideal as it first appears. Her eldest daughter Norah has suddenly withdrawn from the world. At 19 she has dropped out of her university course, left her boyfriend and taken to sitting on a street-corner with a sign around her neck with just one word written on it, Goodness. Reta and Tom cannot fathom what has happened to their charming, intelligent daughter. She will not communicate with them although at least they know where she is and they know which hostel she sleeps in at night.

Her sisters, Natalie and Chris visit her every weekend and endure sitting either side of her in the cold but they also have no success in understanding the situation.

However life also has to carry on for Reta. She is part way through writing her second novel and her characters Alicia and Roman play on her mind frequently; as her own situation becomes more troublesome their story becomes more emotional. She tries to find release in excessive cleaning of her home and it becomes apparent that she is starting to suffer obsessive tendencies; even shopping for a scarf for her daughter becomes an obsessive hunt for the perfect article.

Reta narrates the story in the first person and she is obviously trying to work out why her daughter has rejected the world. She explores many ideas relating to feminist issues and the role of women in society. Her new editor seems to want to control her new novel and move it away from the domestic subjects that she can relate to and write about passionately. She spends a long time looking back at her own story and explores issues such as the fact she is not actually married to her "husband". In the background is her mother-in-law, Lois, who has also gradually retreated into herself but everyone is so self-involved that her issues are being missed.

Will Reta ever be able to return to the happiness she once knew?

--My Thoughts--

This book made an interesting read. I expected there to be much more about her interaction with her daughter and their history. However it became apparent that the story was far more related to feminist issues and how they can change people's lives. The chapter headings are unusual in using titles such as So, Nevertheless, Only. This is to represent how life changes so quickly and simple things can have a major effect on the course of someone's life.

I felt that there was a lot of tying up of loose ends in one chapter and this almost felt rushed and I wanted to explore some issues more that were almost brushed over.

The writing style is incredibly fluent with a beautiful use of language. I had trouble identifying with the character of Reta and it did take me a while to start enjoying this book. I think I was expecting more of a plot so I was reading it to get to the next part. I realised once I had finished that is was more about the exploration of ideas and emotions and I feel I could read it again and enjoy thinking about these things more.

I would certainly recommend this as a stimulating read but don't expect the beginning, middle and end that you find in many novels. Enjoy the flow of the narrative and open you mind to new ideas and understanding of how different people perceive the world.

Summary: Interesting, stimulating read