Carol Shields: Mary Swann [2000] paperback

'One of the best novels I have read this year. It's deft, funny, poignant, surprising and beautifully shaped.' Margaret Atwood

Mary Swann, a latter-day Emily Dickinson, submitted a paper bag of poems to newspaper 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.