Happy Canada Day!

I first read The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields over 20 years ago and was captivated by her writing style so I am delighted to be revisiting some of her works as they are rebranded by World Edition Books to celebrate Canada Day. To find out more about World Editions Books follow them on Twitter, visit their website and find them on Facebook.

Four of Carol Shield’s Books are being rebranded by World Edition Books:

Mary Swan

Mary Swann is the story of four individuals who become entwined in the life of Mary Swann, a rural Canadian poet whose authentic and unique voice is discovered only hours before her husband brutally murders her. Who is Mary Swann? And how could she have produced these works of genius in almost complete isolation? Mysteriously, all traces of Swann’s existence—her notebook, the first draft of her work, even her photograph—gradually vanish in this engrossing novel exploring the surprising afterlife of a murdered poet. Full of mischief, Mary Swann is a novel about life, death and the ideas that live on after us.

The Republic of Love

A celebration of love in its many guises, The Republic of Love recounts the heartfelt tale of two of life’s unlucky lovers: Fay, a folklorist whose passion for mermaids has kept her from focussing on any one man; and, right across the street, Tom, a popular radio talk-show host who’s been through three marriages and divorces in his search for true happiness.

Touching and ironic, The Republic of Love flies the flag for ordinary love between ordinary people.

The Stone Diaries

The Stone Diaries, a fictionalized autobiography, chronicles the life of Daisy Goodwill Flett, a Canadian woman born in 1905 out of love and tragedy, and follows her life through marriage, motherhood and widowhood, as she ages with the century. A subtle but affecting portrait of an everywoman reflecting on an unconventional life.

Happenstance

These two companion novels tell the stories of Jack and Brenda Bowman during a rare time apart in their many years of marriage. In The Husband’s Story, Jack is at home coping with domestic crises and two uncouth adolescents while immobilized by self-doubt and questioning his worth as a historian. In The Wife’s Story, Brenda, travelling alone for the first time, is in a strange city grappling with an array of emotions and toying with the idea of an affair. Happenstance is a profound portrait of a marriage and of those differences between the sexes that bring life – and a sense of isolation – into the most loving relationships.

About Carol Shields

Although born in Illinois, Carol Shields is best known as a Canadian writer. Her writing is renowned for its understanding of human nature.

Carol Shields (1935-2003) was an award winning American-born Canadian author. She is acclaimed for her empathetic and witty, yet penetrating insights into human nature. One of her most famous novels, The Stone Diaries, won both Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Fiction and The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1993 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1994.

You can find out more about Carol and her books here.