Swann: A Novel - Softcover

Shields, Carol

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1480459844 ISBN 13: 9781480459847

Publisher: Open Road Media, 2013

Synopsis

Arthur Ellis Best Crime Novel Award Winner: A “funny, poignant, surprising” (Margaret Atwood) literary detective story centering around a murdered poet.
 Who is Mary Swann?
In this novel of a writer’s revenge, an uneducated farmer’s wife delivers a paper bag filled with scraps of her poems to the publisher of a small press. Hours later, she’s dead, murdered by her husband. Fifteen years on, her book of one hundred twenty-five poems—Mary Swann’s sole claim to fame—is discovered by an American academic. And a literary odyssey begins.
Four narrators—Sarah Maloney, a feminist writer; Frederic Cruzzi, an editor; Morton Jimroy, a biographer; and Rose Hindmarch, Mary’s only friend—all have a stake in the deceased poet’s work. Their chorus of voicesopens a fascinating window on what constitutes genius. As the four descend into a quagmire of ego, jealousy, and backstabbing, Mary Swann comes back to life—in the minds and hearts of those who love and hate her most. Full of mischief, Swann is a novel about life, death, and the ideas that live on after us.

About this title

Book Description:

Carol Shields wrote dazzling, haunting stories of lives just like ours, turning our interior worlds into beautiful labyrinths—a writer worthy of comparison to fellow Canadian greats Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood.

From the Back Cover:

"One of the best novels I have read… deft, funny, poignant, surprising and beautifully shaped—in total command of itself and its language." -- Margaret Atwood

"A brilliant literary mystery...a delightful send-up of the scholarly sideshow that surrounds a work of art." -- Kirkus Reviews

"...a compelling work...exquisitely crafted..." -- Globe and Mail

"Gently satirical… [Carol Shields] has a compassion for her characters that can make you ache for them." -- The New York Times

"Well-drawn characters, expert writing, and silky malice are combined in an exceptionally satisfying work of fiction" -- The Atlantic Monthly

"A spicily witty tale of literary malarkey." -- The Sunday Times (U.K.)

About this edition

• Publisher: Open Road Media
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1480459844
• ISBN 13: 9781480459847
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 444