From their very first meeting, it would seem that Gwen and Tancred were made for one another. Like all good romances, Ring will bring them together. There is, of course, a wrinkle.

Gwenhwyfar’s mother, Helen Odhiambo Lloyd, upon intuiting that her daughter is in love, gives her a ring. This ring has been passed down from endless generations of mothers to their daughters. And maybe the ring is magic. It grants the bearer the opportunity to change three things about her beloved. Like all blessings, this may also be a curse. Complete with a long narrative poem about Aphrodite, Ring turns the literary romance upside down and shakes out its pockets. It’s a playful meditation on the past, on magic, on honor, 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.

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.

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Owl’s Nest Books (Calgary) | Calgary Public Library

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• Andre Alexis’ “Ring” wraps his famed five-book quincunx with a dash of romance and a satisfying puzzle. -The Toronto Star
• Proust Questionnaire: André Alexis on what he values most, in art and friends. -The Next Chapter
• André Alexis Reads Italo Calvino –The New Yorker