Unless

"The best of her novels...fearless, smart, funny, beautifully written."--New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Relentlessly fine...imagined with style and vigor, melancholoy and wisdom."--San Diego Union-Tribune
"A brave, profound, and quirky novel with an undercurrent of the deeply amusing."--Anita Shreve, author of Sea Glass
"Some hefty perceptions, fortunately shared with us in this fine novel."--Washington Post Book World
"All the trademark Shields delights are robustly present: idiosyncratic plotting; limber prose...deep compassion...tart commentary and irreverent wit."--Orlando Sentinel
"Remarkably subtle and unsettling...one of those books that make you regret that reading is a solitary pleasure."--Christian Science Monitor
"Nothing short of astonishing."--The New Yorker
"Shields's novels and short stories are intensely imagined, humanely generous, beautifully sustained and impeccably detailed."--Publishers Weekly
"With a poet's precision, Shields dissects grief and makes coping with bad luck feel like domestic heroism."--People
"Truly, a miracle of language and perception."--The Oregonian (Portland)
"A raw, subtle, inspiring novel about feminism, femininity, virtue, oppression and motherhood...I was inexpressibly moved by it."--Rachel Cusk, Daily Telegraph (London)
"Finely detailed, thoughtful and sometimes even humorous, this book is highly recommended for all fiction collections."--Library Journal
"Her wisdom and generosity of spirit are visible at every turn."--London Times (Sunday)
"All novelists worth their fictional salt can create fine characters; Carol Shields creates lives. "--New York Times Book Review
"A novel of...assured intelligence and defiant vivacity."--San Francisco Chronicle
"A fine book, poignant, witty, rich in character, vivid in its sense of place...surprisingly suspenseful."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"A thing of beauty--lucidly written, artfully ordered, riddled with riddles and undergirded with dark layers of philosophical meditations."--Los Angeles Times
"Closely observed moments create the kind of subtle textures and elegant prose that won Ms. Shields the Pulitzer Prize."--Richmond Times-Dispatch
"When Shields is good she is very good. There are nuggets of pure gold in Unless."--Newark Star Ledger
"A wonderful, powerful book, written in a style which combines simplicity and elegance. I found it deeply moving."--Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat
"Luminous ... Shields is a consummate master of tone and acute psychological insight."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A fitting farewell from an author revered for her graceful, insightful writing...sparkles with wry humor and elegant irony."--Hartford Courant
"A luminous novel ...Shields writes with clarity, intelligence and generosity, finding meaning in most mundane details of home life."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Marvelously idiosyncratic, passionate and wise, Shields' tenth novel rollicks from beginning to end with sauciness and wit."--Book Magazine
"Unless succeeds beautifully...Shields [is] an expert at illuminating the complicated dynamics of off-kilter families."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Often quietly heartbreaking...often, bitingly humorous."--Kirkus (starred review)
"Entirely satisfying... Shields' voice, tender and moderated at all times, remains wise and very readable."--Houston Chronicle
"An engaging, memorable novel."--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A landmark book...yet another noteworthy addition to Shields's impressive body of work."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A superb new novel...a graceful coda, an arabesque performed over an abyss."--Time Magazine