From the Giller Prize-winning author of Fifteen Dogs, the final installment in the massively ambitious Quincunx by one of Canada's literary giants
"Love comes from uncertainty In fact, love is uncertainty's greatest gift " This is the message at the heart of Ring, Andr Alexis's last installment of the Quincunx, a sequence of five novels that each borrow from a very different genre. Ring is, of course, the romance.
Ring is the story of Gwenhwy far Lloyd, a woman of Welsh and Kenyan heritage who, on falling in love with Tancred Palmieri, is given a ring and three books by her mother, Helen. As it happens, the ring is - or so her mother believes - magical. If Helen is to be believed, it grants Gwen the ability to change three things about her beloved - his psychology, his character, the course of his life - before marrying him. Or if Gwen so chooses, she can change one physical aspect of him - height, bigness of ears, etc. - and one inner aspect.
Ring, provoked by a reading of Harlequin romances, is a mash-up of romance novel conventions and a sunny meditation on the past, on language, on poetry, and yes, on love.
"A great novel doesn't try to answer questions, but, like Days by Moonlight, complicates them." --The Globe and Mail on Days by Moonlight
"This imaginative travelogue will amuse readers even as it raises weightier issues." --Publishers Weekly on Days by Moonlight
"I'm far from being a dog person, but as a book person I loved this smart, exuberant fantasy from start to finish." --The Guardian on Fifteen Dogs
"A clever exploration of our essence, communication, and how our societies are organized." --Kirkus Reviews on Fifteen Dogs
Industry Reviews
"Alexis churns up a consistent supply of wry, pithy lines ('People fall out of respect as easily as they fall out of love') while maintaining the tension between the threat and hope that the ring offers ... [a] pleasantly unusual outing." --Publishers Weekly
"Ring raises questions about love, marriage, fidelity, and the divine." --Canadian Writers Abroad
"A tour de force by an accomplished writer, Ring reminds us there are still mysteries in the world that are well worth exploring." - Necessary Fiction
"Andre Alexis, the wildly inventive Canadian author who gives me very strong Percival Everett/ Colson Whitehead vibes." --Josh Cook, Porter Square Books
"... Alexis' Quincunx sequence [is] one of the boldest, most audacious, and most satisfying achievements in recent literary memory." --The Toronto Star
"Told with a sense of inevitability and fate, Ring is an enchanting and sophisticated fable in which love is transformative." --Forward Reviews
"A great novel doesn't try to answer questions, but, like Days by Moonlight, complicates them. " --The Globe and Mail on Days by Moonlight
"This imaginative travelogue will amuse readers even as it raises weightier issues. " --Publishers Weekly on Days by Moonlight
"I'm far from being a dog person, but as a book person I loved this smart, exuberant fantasy from start to finish. " --The Guardian on Fifteen Dogs
"A clever exploration of our essence, communication, and how our societies are organized. " --Kirkus Reviews on Fifteen Dogs
