with a new foreword by Margaret Atwood On love and the absence of love A celebration of love in its many guises, The Republic of Love recounts the heartfelt tale of two of life’s unlucky lovers: Fay, a folklorist whose passion for mermaids has kept her from focusing on any one man; and, right across the street, Tom, a popular radio talk-show host who’s been through three marriages and divorces in his search for true happiness. Touching and ironic, The Republic of Love flies the flag for ordinary love between ordinary people. ** "A touching, elegantly funny, luscious piece of fiction." – New York Times Book Review "The Republic of Love marries a wide diversity of elements, mythical and modern, ironic and moving, exhilarating and melancholy. A love-surveying story that is enticingly seductive." – Times Literary Supplement "The Republic of Love is a hymn to the pleasures and pains, the raptures even of an unspectacular life. Shields delivers a simple message with so much grace and so little pretension, that it is impossible not to be enchanted by her voice. She sings with the charm of a true siren. In her hands, we believe, anything can happen." – The Guardian "Her perceptions are so quick, her style is so acute, that she can tack a breath to the page and skewer a thought on the wing. It is her speciality to isolate moments that remain distinct in the mind for years, perhaps for a lifetime." – Sunday Times