Ring by Andre Alexis

Ring (Quincunx, #3)

by André Alexis

THE GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOKS OF 2021

CBC BOOKS THE BEST CANADIAN FICTION OF 2021

A fresh take on the romance novel from the Giller Prize–winning author of Fifteen Dogs

From their first meeting, it was clear that Gwen and Tancred were meant to be together. But, as we know, the course of true love never did run smooth.

Gwen’s mother, intuiting that her daughter is in love, gives her a magic ring that has been passed down through endless generations of mothers and daughters. This ring grants its wearer the opportunity to change three things about her beloved. Like all blessings, this may also be a curse.

Ring turns the literary romance upside down and shakes out its pockets. It’s a playful meditation on the past, on magic, on race, on honour, on faith, and, yes, on love.

Following on the heels of Pastoral, Fifteen Dogs, The Hidden Keys, and Days by Moonlight, Ring completes Alexis’s Quincunx, a group of five genre-bending, philosophically sophisticated, and utterly delightful novels.

Reviewed by bookworm_1982 on

5 of 5 stars

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A brilliant and beautiful novel. It is the greatest meditation I have ever read on the complexities and contradictions of love. Alexis captures the nagging doubt at the heart of the human condition regarding whether we can ever truly know our own hearts, or the hearts of those that we love. A fitting completion of the brilliant Quincunx cycle.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 11 April, 2022: Finished reading
  • 11 April, 2022: Reviewed