Recommendation: "Unless" is a poignant exploration of the nuances of mental health and social isolation. Shields masterfully crafts a delicate and intimate portrayal of a mother-daughter dynamic and the intersection between personal and universal struggles. This book will be particularly appealing to those searching for a reflective and compassionate narrative that approaches mental illness with empathy and nuance.

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• Booker Prize Nominee (2002)
• Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Shortlist (2003)
• James Tait Black Memorial Prize Nominee for Fiction (2002)
• Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee (2002)
• Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize (2003)

Reta Winters has a loving family, good friends, and growing success as a writer of light fiction. Then her eldest daughter suddenly withdraws from the world, abandoning university to sit on a street corner, wearing a sign that reads only 'goodness'. As Reta seeks the causes of her daughter's retreat, her enquiry turns into an unflinching, often very funny meditation on society and where we find meaning and hope. Unless is a dazzling and daring novel from the undisputed master of extraordinary fictions about so-called 'ordinary' lives.

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