"A landmark book...yet another noteworthy addition to Shields's impressive body of work." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A brave, profound, and quirky novel with an undercurrent of the deeply amusing." -- Anita Shreve, author of Sea Glass

"A wonderful, powerful book, written in a style which combines simplicity and elegance. I found it deeply moving." -- Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

"Finely detailed, thoughtful and sometimes even humorous, this book is highly recommended for all fiction collections." -- Library Journal

"Often quietly heartbreaking...often, bitingly humorous." -- Kirkus (starred review)

"Marvelously idiosyncratic, passionate and wise, Shields' tenth novel rollicks from beginning to end with sauciness and wit." -- Book Magazine

"All novelists worth their fictional salt can create fine characters; Carol Shields creates lives. " -- New York Times Book Review

"Nothing short of astonishing." -- The New Yorker

"A thing of beauty--lucidly written, artfully ordered, riddled with riddles and undergirded with dark layers of philosophical meditations." -- Los Angeles Times

"With a poet's precision, Shields dissects grief and makes coping with bad luck feel like domestic heroism." -- People

"A superb new novel...a graceful coda, an arabesque performed over an abyss." -- Time Magazine

"Some hefty perceptions, fortunately shared with us in this fine novel." -- Washington Post Book World

"The best of her novels...fearless, smart, funny, beautifully written." -- New Orleans Times-Picayune

"A fine book, poignant, witty, rich in character, vivid in its sense of place...surprisingly suspenseful." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Remarkably subtle and unsettling...one of those books that make you regret that reading is a solitary pleasure." -- Christian Science Monitor

"Luminous ... Shields is a consummate master of tone and acute psychological insight." -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"A luminous novel ...Shields writes with clarity, intelligence and generosity, finding meaning in most mundane details of home life." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"A novel of...assured intelligence and defiant vivacity." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"When Shields is good she is very good. There are nuggets of pure gold in Unless." -- Newark Star Ledger

"An engaging, memorable novel." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Relentlessly fine...imagined with style and vigor, melancholoy and wisdom." -- San Diego Union-Tribune

"Closely observed moments create the kind of subtle textures and elegant prose that won Ms. Shields the Pulitzer Prize." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Unless succeeds beautifully...Shields [is] an expert at illuminating the complicated dynamics of off-kilter families." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"A fitting farewell from an author revered for her graceful, insightful writing...sparkles with wry humor and elegant irony." -- Hartford Courant

"Truly, a miracle of language and perception." -- The Oregonian (Portland)

"All the trademark Shields delights are robustly present: idiosyncratic plotting; limber prose...deep compassion...tart commentary and irreverent wit." -- Orlando Sentinel

"Entirely satisfying... Shields' voice, tender and moderated at all times, remains wise and very readable." -- Houston Chronicle

"Shields's novels and short stories are intensely imagined, humanely generous, beautifully sustained and impeccably detailed." -- Publishers Weekly

"A raw, subtle, inspiring novel about feminism, femininity, virtue, oppression and motherhood...I was inexpressibly moved by it." -- Rachel Cusk, Daily Telegraph (London)

"Her wisdom and generosity of spirit are visible at every turn." -- London Times (Sunday)