Swann - Softcover

Shields, Carol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679307877 ISBN 13: 9780679307877

Publisher: Vintage, 1996

Synopsis

Carol Shields's award-winning and critically acclaimed "literary mystery," first published in 1987.

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 hacks her to pieces.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 as the characters in this engrossing novel become caught up in their own concepts of who Mary Swann was.

About this title

About the Author:

Carol Shields (1935–2003) was born in Oak Park, Illinois. She studied at Hanover College, the University of Exeter in England, and the University of Ottawa. In 1957, she married Donald Shields and moved to Canada permanently. She taught at the University of Ottawa, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Manitoba, and served as chancellor of the University of Winnipeg. She wrote ten novels and three short story collections, in addition to poetry, plays, criticism, and a biography of Jane Austen. Her novel The Stone Diaries won the Pulitzer Prize, the Governor General’s Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award; it was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Shields was further recognized with a Canada Council Major Award, two Canadian National Magazine Awards, the Canadian Authors Association Award, and countless other prizes and honors. 

From the Back Cover:

"Deft, funny, poignant, surprising, and beautifully shaped."
MARGARET ATWOOD

"A brilliant literary mystery. Read it."
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

"A very good novel, alive in every sense: formally ingenious and inventive, strikingly evocative of place, of character, of the world of things, capable of both comedy and tenderness, and above all beautifully written."
LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS

"I am more than happy to have discovered Carol Shields. Her original and incisive voice deserves to be widely heard."
ANITA BROOKNER

"Written with elaborate grace... an excellent read."
FINANCIAL TIMES

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0679307877
• ISBN 13: 9780679307877
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 397