Book description
'The Stone Diaries' is the story of one woman's life, a truly sensuous
novel which reflects and illuminates the unsettled decades of our
century. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle
Award and short-listed for the Booker Prize.
This is the poignant story of Daisy Goodwill, twentieth-century
pilgrim, from her calamitous birth in Canada to her death in a Florida
nursing home nearly ninety years later. Struggling to find her place in
the world, she listens and observes, becoming a witness to her own life
and death in this rich tale that reflects and illuminates our own
unsettled era. 'A triumphant and important book … I can think of few
novels containing so much that is resonant and unforgettable, or that
invite the reader to participate so fully and rewardingly.' Sunday Telegraph
'Rapturous, sensitive and funny.' Guardian
'Carol Shields is an exceptionally sympathetic and involving novelist.'
Independent on Sunday
'It is wonderful. A treat.' Joanna Trollope Carol Shields's novels
include 'Larry's Party' (1997), winner of the 1998 Orange Prize; 'The
Republic of Love' (1992); 'Happenstance' (1991) and 'Mary Swann' (1990).
'Dressing Up for the Carnival', a bestselling collection of short
stories, was published in 2000, and a previous collection, 'Various
Miracles', was published in 1994. Born and brought up in Chicago, Carol
Shields lived in Canada until her death in 2003. She was the Chancellor
of the University of Winnipeg.
