“With a quiet, patient plotting any Gothic novelist would applaud, Wood builds to her tragedy’s crescendo.”
– Globe and Mail“Wood’s novel is riveting and heartbreaking and definitely worth a read. It brings to light a tragic story that Canada is in danger of forgetting.”
– Niagara Life“Three parts fact plus one part fiction equals a delicious bit of storytelling. . . . Wood uses archived newspaper stories and the fictionalized journal entries of a young nursing assistant to give her debut novel legs, leaving readers to decide who are the bad guys and the good guys in this historic Canadian saga.”
– Winnipeg Free Press“Told by a fictional narrator but laden with disturbing truths, this recounting of a blight on our history is as fascinating as it is informative.”
– Canadian Living“The Quintland Sisters” is an engaging and thoughtful fictionalized account of the early lives of the Dionne quintuplets. It’s evident that Shelley Wood put extensive research into this, her debut novel. . . . Through the use of fictionalized journal entries and letters, Wood tells of the machinations of all parties involved: the parents, the doctors, the Canadian government. She remains even-handed in her criticism and praise.”
– The Yakima Herald“A charming and well-researched . . . tale of love and survival.”
– Kirkus Reviews (Full review)“Wood cleverly combines fact and fiction in a fast-paced novel that will leave readers contemplating how the best intentions of government intervention can have dire, unanticipated consequences.”
– Publishers Weekly (Full review)“Wood has crafted an ambitious, meticulously researched, and imaginative debut novel that is engrossing and compelling. Exploring the shared sisterhood of the quintuplets’ caretakers and the trouble with unwanted celebrity, this heartwarming novel will win over loyal readers of Patricia Harman, Jodi Picoult, and Carol Cassella.”
– BookList“The Quintland Sisters is an impeccably researched historical novel that will enthrall you. From the moment Shelley Wood introduced the remarkable Dionne quintuplets, I was utterly captivated. Wood’s vivid story-telling through the eyes of a young nursing assistant perfectly captures the astonishing birth and early days of the famous quintuplets’ lives. Wood has masterfully brought the Quints’ small Ontario farming community of the early 1930’s to life, as well as all the characters that come in and out of their surreal and extraordinary world. I could not get this story out of my head long after I finished reading it.”
– Joanna Goodman, author of The Home for Unwanted Girls“The Quintland Sisters is a stunning novel about five girls caught in the seam of history, at the intersection of dueling cultures, classes, languages, and faiths in the last years before World War Two. Through the eyes of the Dionne sisters’ longest-serving nurse, Wood tells the heartbreaking story of how the miraculous survival of five identical sisters born to a poor family in Quebec devolved into a naked battle for money and fame that corrupted even those who loved them. Meticulously researched and sensitively told, this book is a journey not to be missed.”
– Heather Young, author of The Lost Girls“Before the fishbowl world of reality television and carefully curated social media accounts, there was Quintland. In The Quintland Sisters, Wood deftly captures the fascinating collisions between faith and science, powerful and poor, and the tensions that arise when a rural town and its inhabitants are cast under the relentless scrutiny of the public’s obsession with one extraordinary family. The story of the Dionne quintuplets serves as a timely reminder of the humanity we all share, no matter our differences in social class, religion, or nationality.”
– Elise Hooper, author of The Other Alcott and Learning to See“Whether or not you’re familiar with the story of the Dionne quintuplets, you’ll appreciate the meticulous attention to historical detail in this compelling reimagining of five famous lives, and find yourself immediately drawn into a world where fact and fiction are seamlessly blended and a beautiful, tragic mystery is unspooled. This is a gorgeously written novel about miracles, love, and resilience.”
– Marissa Stapley, author of Mating for Life and Things to Do When It’s Raining
More Awards and Accolades
FreeFall Magazine Annual Prose Contest
Fall 2017, 1st Prize Winner, Short Fiction (“How They Move On“)
From Judge Bruce Hunter. “Psychologically compelling and skillfully written, “How They Move On,” told from a widower’s perspective, is an emotionally nuanced and intimate story about a doctor’s recovery from grief with an unexpected ending that hints at Chekhov. Wood’s compassion shines….”
“the Same” Literary Journal Short Fiction Contest
Fall 2017, First Place Winner, Fiction (“A Kind of Falling“)
Writer’s Union of Canada Emerging Writer’s Short Prose Contest
2017, Shortlist, Fiction (“How They Move On”)
From judges Eden Robinson, Amy Stuart, and Russell Wangersky: “A seamless story with not a single false note. Spare writing that gives readers years in two or three sentences; just the right detail at the precise moment it is needed. An excellent structure and natural narrative flow that builds a slow, inevitable recognition that we come to along with the narrator. This is a skilled writer giving readers a bittersweet story [with] not a smidge of sentimentality.” And: “This story was unexpected and beautiful. . . Somehow [it] manages to be both simple and complex, both small and universal. I really enjoyed reading it.”
Causeway Lit Creative Nonfiction Contest
Winter 2016/2016, Winner, Nonfiction (“Marriage Backwaters [A Love Story])
WOW, Women-on-Writing Flash Fiction Contest
Summer 2016, Runner Up, Flash Fiction (“Mourners at the Grave of the Other Dr. Johansen”)
Bath Flash Fiction Prize
June 2016, Second Place, Flash Fiction (“Rags, Riches”)
From judge Michelle Elvy: “[A] wonderful character sketch, with the beating sun setting the mood and scorching the reader’s heart. . . . We also glimpse something like hope, albeit heartbreaking. Youth embodied in golden bodies of teenagers: the promise of a life not lived, a life over there – just out of reach. Exceptional detail opening up a cavernous world of empty. And a fully imagined sequence creating a perfect close.”
Writer’s Union of Canada Developing Writer’s Short Prose Contest
2016, Shortlist, Fiction (“Truth and Rhetoric”)
From judges Gail Bowen, Shauntay Grant, and Eric Siblin: “Intellectually and emotionally engaging, as well as entertaining. . . . The writer is very skilled at weaving intimate emotional details. The prose is honest, very poetic. Sad, and beautiful.
Digital Health Awards, Audio/Mobile
2016, Merit Prize, Health Journalism (Podcast, Heart Sounds with Shelley Wood)
Frank McCourt Creative Nonfiction Prize
2016, Winner, Nonfiction (“The Scrubber of Bodies”)
From judge Ben Tanzer: “ ‘The Scrubber of Bodies’ is an electric look at the body and connection, and how ones loses oneself to the fleeting nature of pleasure. It is also an exploration of marriage, however, and how such intimacies might lead to jealousy and confusion, or at least the idea that sometimes we seek pleasure in those things as well.”
Tethered by Letters F(r)iction Fall 2015 Contest
2016, Winner, Fiction (“Think of Sad”)
From reviewer Jade Blackwater (Brainripples): “Wood’s Think of Sad, a short story contest winner, paints a bittersweet portrait of people who connect through distances of space, time, and memory; how those distances grow and shrink in a blink.”
Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, A Midsummer Tale Contest
2015, Honorable Mention, Fiction (“The Drop”)
Mash Stories Competition #7
2015, Shortlist, Fiction (“Lemons for Arthur”)
The Malahat Review, Open Season Awards
2015, Finalist, Fiction* (“The Moment I Left You”)
*This was submitted as nonfiction but was mysteriously misfiled.
carte blanche/Creative Nonfiction Collective Competition
2014, Honourable Mention (“What Happened That Day”)
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2014, Winner (“Leave-taking”)
From judge Gerry Shikatani: “Written in a seductively cadenced prose, it slips us in and out of their lives over the decades, in vivid vignette-like episodes that move us fluidly through the narrative. The diction is beautifully textured in a gentle drama that leaves us wondering how each character will move on.”
Room Magazine Annual Contest (Fiction)
2013, Shortlist (“The Drop”)
Association of Healthcare Publication Editors Awards
2013, Gold, Best Website (Editor, theheart.org)
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2013, Shortlist (“What comes next”)
Canadian Online Publishing Awards
2012, Runner-up, Best online only article or series of articles (“Drugs, money, and glory: Is cancer beating CVD?”)
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2012, Third place (“The Drop”)
Canadian Online Publishing Awards
2011, Silver, Best overall online-only publication website (Editor, theheart.org)
Canadian Online Publishing Awards
2011, Runner-up, Best online only article or series of articles (“Betty Crocker, Coke, and CardioSmart at ACC 2011: If CV prevention gets a boost, does it matter who pays?”)
Online News Awards 2010
Specialty Site Journalism, Independent (Editor, theheart.org)
National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM)
2009 Print Journalism Award (The Myxo Ring Mix-up).
Okanagan Short Story Contest
2008, Shortlist (“Safe”)