Mary Swann, a latter day Emily Dickinson, submitted a paper bag of poems to newpaper editor Frederic Cruzzi mere hours before her husband hacked her to pieces. How could someone who led such a dull, sheltered life produce these works of genius? Four very different people search for the elusive answer.
Carol Shields was born and raised in Chicago and has lived in Canada since 1957. She studied at Hanover College and the University of Ottawa. Author of six novels, including The Republic of Love, which was shortlisted for the 1992 Guardian Fiction Prize, and The Stone Diaries, which was shortlisted for the 1993 Booker Prize, Carol Shields has also written three volumes of poetry and numerous short stories. She now lives in Winnipeg and spends each summer in France.
