The Republic of Love

With a viewpoint that shifts as crisply as cards in the hands of a blackjack dealer, we are introduced to two shell-shocked veterans of the wars of the heart.  There is Fay, a folklorist whose passion for mermaids has kept her from focusing on any one man.  And right across the street there's Tom, a popular radio talk-show host who has focused a little too intently, having married and divorced three times.  Only Carol Shields could describe so adroitly this couple who fall in love as thoroughly and satisfyingly as any Victorian couple, and the modern complications that beset them in this touching and ironic book.  -  Back cover of the 1994 Vintage Canada publication