Unless

Unless is my first Carol Shields book, and based on what I've read so far I expect there will be more. I picked it up at the library on one of those days when I was just wandering the libary looking to see what they had that was small enough for me to carry on transit. I was open to anything paperback. 

Most simply put, Unlessis a story about a mother and writer, Reta and her family's struggle to reconnect with an absent daughter.

Living in a small community outside of Toronto, Reta is in the process of writing her second novel after having had some success with her first novel. She struggles with where she wants to take her characters versus where she needs to take them (some self-reflexivity at work here. I guess it's inevitable if a writer is writing about a writer's process).  What happens to the characters in her novel is indirectly shaped by what happens to Reta in her life. Will there be a happy ending?


As a mother, Reta is trying to understand how the family tragedy has occurred. Her daughter Norah has disconnected herself from life, from her home and university education, and has stopped talking. She sits mute on a Toronto street corner with a sign that reads "Goodness." Reta can do nothing for her, and Norah refuses to acknowledge her family despite their attempts. Throughout the book Reta tries to piece together where it all went wrong. What happened to "their" Norah? As Reta works through these questions we are invited into her private world. Despite being a closely connected family, and despite the closeness of Reta's friends that she meets with once a week, we the reader are invited to know Reta most intimately in these moments in her life. We are permitted to see what others might miss caught up in their own day-to-day.


Reta's life as she works through these problems are revealed almost chronologically, but at times in flashback or even through letters. We learn more about the other characters in small doses, but we learn the most about Norah from Reta, the one character who does not speak. As Reta tries to work out what happened to Norah and why, we learn more and more about this one daughter and her seemingly normal relationship to her family. How could such a strange act occur under such normalcy? What is the meaning of "goodness?" What could Norah mean by this sign? These are the questions Reta asks. The chapter titles, such as So, Then, Once, Unless, are an indication of Reta's attempt to understand, and are what I would call the words in between the concrete. These are the connecting words that are perhaps a reminder that Reta is trying to piece together what she does know as being true. 


Based on this description it might sound like this is a downer of a novel, but it's not as there is quite a bit of humour throughout the book, which seems remarkable considering the circumstances with the absent daughter. But that's more true to life is it not? Reta has a wry wit, and observes what others might miss. The book's humour keeps it from becoming too dark, which reflects Reta's character.  


The novel flowed with beautifully crafted language, and compelling characters until I soon found myself at the end.


What a great introduction to Carol Shields. I look forward to more.