First published 2006
Reta Winters has built a good life as a writer, translator, wife, and mother of three daughters. At forty-four, she feels content with her work and family in their comfortable world. Then her eldest daughter Norah suddenly leaves university and takes up residence on a downtown street corner. She sits cross-legged and silent, a begging bowl in her lap, wearing a sign that reads "Goodness." Norah refuses to speak or explain her actions. Reta watches her bright, promising daughter choose this bewildering existence day after day. She struggles to understand what drove Norah to abandon her education and future for this wordless protest or penance. The family's stability crumbles as they grapple with Norah's transformation. Reta must confront her own assumptions about happiness, success, and the mysterious forces that can derail a young woman's life. This final novel from Carol Shields explores how a mother's love persists even when she cannot reach her child.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, mother-daughter-relationship
Setting: Canada
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · Harper Perennial
Content warnings: mental-illness