Helpful Score: 9
I'm just not into the books with tons of descriptions and excess words discussing things completely unrelated to the story. I don't need 3 pages to tell me what color the curtains were. I made it about 10 pages in before I finally gave up. I was so not into this book that I didn't even realize I'd left it behind at a restaurant until a few hours later.
If you enjoy the book versions of books like "White Oleander" you might enjoy this book. Although, I at least finished (and somewhat enjoyed) white Oleander despite all the excess.
The main character is an author and the book spent the entire first chapter detailing her curriculum vitae, story by story and book by book. I thought this was supposed to be about how this family dealt with having their daughter suddenly decide she wanted to live on the street and how it affected them, but in the 3 chapters I read that only seemed to serve as a side note to the main characters narcissism.
If you enjoy the book versions of books like "White Oleander" you might enjoy this book. Although, I at least finished (and somewhat enjoyed) white Oleander despite all the excess.
The main character is an author and the book spent the entire first chapter detailing her curriculum vitae, story by story and book by book. I thought this was supposed to be about how this family dealt with having their daughter suddenly decide she wanted to live on the street and how it affected them, but in the 3 chapters I read that only seemed to serve as a side note to the main characters narcissism.
Helpful Score: 4
A real page turner, couldn't wait to find out the ending, and when I did, it reminded me...........never make assumptions! Great book, by a very talented and gifter writer.
Helpful Score: 3
I find Carol Shields to be a talented writer and her interweaving of the heroine's personal story with the characters in the book she is writing is masterful. The mystery of why her 19 year old daughter has chosen to live on the streets of Toronto kept me glued to this book to the last page. I highly recommend it.
Helpful Score: 1
First time reading her books......disappointing....found it to be too depressing.
Helpful Score: 1
Deeply moving, particularly to a parent.
Fourty-four year old Reta Winters has three children, a loving husband, and a successful career as a writer of light fiction. Her life is comfortable, normal - and so she suffers a terrible shock when she discovers that her eldest daughter, Norah, has dropped out of university to sit on a streetcorner, a begging bowl in her lap and a cardboard sign that reads only 'GOODNESS' strung around her neck. Norah gives no explanation to her family, refuses to speak with them or to come home. 'Unless' follows Reta's struggle to understand what has caused her to withdraw from the world, as she attempts to continue on with her own life.
This is a lovely novel. It moves very slowly, but is written with exquisite grace and skill. Reta is utterly believable as a character; her meditations on life are not, as some reviewers on this page have claimed, 'dull' or 'trite', but poetic, insightful, moving. Her sadness is tangible, and poignant - handled very well by Shields, who can lift the smallest details of life to almost spiritual heights. Her writing has a certain modesty, a frankness and integrity to it that is delightful, refreshing. 'Unless' is appealing because, like Norah, it asks nothing of itself - and it gives the reader all in return. Wonderful.
This is a lovely novel. It moves very slowly, but is written with exquisite grace and skill. Reta is utterly believable as a character; her meditations on life are not, as some reviewers on this page have claimed, 'dull' or 'trite', but poetic, insightful, moving. Her sadness is tangible, and poignant - handled very well by Shields, who can lift the smallest details of life to almost spiritual heights. Her writing has a certain modesty, a frankness and integrity to it that is delightful, refreshing. 'Unless' is appealing because, like Norah, it asks nothing of itself - and it gives the reader all in return. Wonderful.
Just couldn't get into it. Not my type I guess.
i have the 4th edition
Could not put this book down, loved it. The author has great style. Now one of my favorties. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
What do we do when the children we reared and thought we knew become someone indecipherable and unreachable?
Nice contemporary fiction. Deals with the heartfelt emotions of motherhood.
Fascinating story. A quiet read. Enjoyed reading about women who write.
very interesting look into the lives of everyday people, very well written.
Reta Winters is 44 years old. Suddenly her oldest daughter Norah decides to drop out of college and out of life in general to set on a street corner with a sign around her neck bearing the word "Goodness." The story is Reta's journey in understanding her daughter's world while keeping her other children, house, husband and job going.
This book was ok. I keep waiting for it to "get going". I just wanted more of a story.
A good read...tragic and funny at the same time and a book any mother can relate to with empathy.
This book was depressing to me even after hearing high praise about this author. Her style was a little slow in character development and even seemed whiny at times. Perhaps you need to be in "that" emotional place for this book to resonate. Others who I know have read it found it satisfying.
Very entertaining read. From the Pulitzer Prize author of The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
I enjoyed reading this novel!
Reta Winters, 44 yr old successful author of light summertime fiction, has always considered herself happy, even blessed. That is, until her oldest daughter Norah mysteriously drops out of college and becomes a panhandler on a Toronto street corner--silent, with a sign around her neck bearing the word "Goodness".This national bestseller, by the author of the Stone Diaries, it insightful, entertaining and a fun journey.
