Two novels by the award-winning Canadian writer Carol Shields, dramatised for BBC Radio

Carol Shields was one of Canada’s most renowned contemporary authors. Often compared to Jane Austen, her deft, witty and compassionate works depicting the everyday lives of ordinary people won her numerous literary honours. Included here are adaptations of her Pulitzer Prize-winning tour de force, The Stone Diaries, and her final novel Unless, which was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2002. Both feature a full cast of well-known audio performers, including Barbara Barnes, Laurel Lefkow, Peter Marinker, William Hope, Teresa Gallagher and Garrick Hagon.

The Stone Diaries – This remarkable fictional biography tells the story of Daisy Goodwill from her unexpected birth in rural Canada in 1905 to her death in a Florida nursing home nearly 90 years later. Like the 20th century itself, her life is full of uncertainties and instability. As she navigates the milestones of marriage, motherhood, widowhood and retirement, Daisy attempts to find her place in the world, reflecting on and reframing her life through the prism of her memories and her rich, colourful imagination.

Unless – Reta Winters has always considered herself to be a sunny, contented person. But then her 19-year-old daughter Norah suddenly drops out of university to sit on a Toronto sidewalk with a begging bowl and a cardboard sign that reads ‘Goodness’. Devastated, Reta attempts to discover why Norah has turned her back on her loved ones – and as she searches for answers, she learns that happiness is not what she thought. Fierce, fearless and frank, this compelling tale of loss, family and a woman’s role in society is adapted for radio by the Booker-nominated novelist Deborah Levy.

Text copyright © the Carol Shields Literary Trust
First published 1993 (The Stone Diaries) and 2002 (Unless)
All rights reserved

Cast and credits
Written by Carol Shields

The Stone Diaries
Daisy – Liza Ross
Young Daisy – Barbara Barnes
Mercy/Beans/Victoria – Teresa Gallagher
Cuyler – Peter Marinker
Young Cuyler/Lewis – Ryan McCluskey
Clarentine – Briony Glassco
Barker – William Hope
Magnus/Mr Sinclair – Ewan Hooper
Abram – Chris Pavlo
Doctor – Ewan Bailey
Fraidy – Debora Weston
Mrs Hoad – Buffy Davis
Harold – Walter Lewis
Newswoman – Denica Fairman
Mrs Donaldson – Nancy Galr
Alice – Laurel Lefkow
Young Alice – Courtney Halgren
Warren – Kyle Dadd
Young Warren – Daniel Anthony
Joan – Vicki Simon
Young Joan – Josi Kook-Clark
Beverly – Joanne McQuinn
Jay – Garrick Hagon
Pinky – Rick Bland
Young Victoria – Andrea Muller
Betty – Georgina Sowerby
Joan – Sarah Mennell
Glad – Pat Starr
Lily – Marcia Warren
Myrtle – Margaret Robertson
Rev Rick – John Schwab
Dr Aaronfield – Rick Bland
Jubilee – Sarah Paul

Dramatised by Claire Luckham and Briony Glassco
Directed by David Hunter and Marion Nancarrow
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3 December 2001-4 January 2002

Unless
Reta – Barbara Barnes
Norah – Laurel Lefkow
Natalie – Vicki Simon
Danielle – Sara Kestelman
Tom – Rick Bland
Chris/Sylvia/Emma/Christine – Teresa Gallagher
Gwen/Lois/Volunteer – Liza Ross
Young Norah – Josephine Kook-Clark
Arthur – Ryan McCluskey

Dramatised by Deborah Levy
Produced by Di Speirs
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 June-9 July 2004

© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd