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Date Posted: 16:53:50 11/19/05 Sat
Author: Tracyg
Subject: hehehe...My rough copy was posted above, so come inside for a better review>>>>>>>
In reply to: Syl 's message, "The Stone Angel" on 16:26:52 11/18/05 Fri

Laurence is a Canadian author and one of my favourites. If you enjoy Canadian literature or are new to it, then perhaps The Stone Angel will be a good invitation for reading more Canadian lit.

Laurence’s books center on strong-willed, proud female characters and The Stone Angel has Hagar Shipley. The story is told through her eyes at the age of ninety with pride as the strongest theme. The story is set in the Canadian prairies in the fictional town of Manawaka. Laurence makes Manawaka the setting for four of her other novels.

Her son and daughter-in-law are ready to put Hagar, age ninety, into a nursing home. Hagar reflects upon her life, her unhappiness and the relationships with her father, husband and sons. She struggles with memories of relationships (ones she could repair and ones she lost) with death, aging and her own fate. From childhood, she remembers her father who was a proud, self-made man and from whom her pride was inherited. From adulthood, there is her negligent husband and her two sons – one is flamboyant and one is traditional. As a widow she clings to her independence, to responsibilities and to pride. It is her pride that seems to keep her spirit alive and enables her to cope with becoming dependent. The same pride gives her a sharp tongue along with the regret of harsh words. I suppose it fascinates me that there are two sides of pride –one that helps her and sometimes saves her, yet at the same time also hurts her and those closest to her.

I found that every character is connected to the other and it seems as though one character cannot do one thing without it affecting the whole family. I found the emotions and the lives of the characters to be some of the most vividly written. The flower imagery is another part of the book that I quite enjoy. Laurence writes of wild flowers and civilized flowers and it’s interesting to note how the flowers are connected to Hagar and the image they create of the Canadian town.

I hope you enjoy Hagar as I have. The Stone Angel is probably the best known of Laurence’s work followed closely by The Diviners. I was fortunate enough to have an English teacher who admired Laurence’s work and introduced me to it. That’s where my love of her writing began.

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Replies:

[> Both good!! Thanks for the great review - it sounds very interesting. (You were so lucky to have a teacher like that, Tracyg!!) -- annieo, 20:51:34 11/19/05 Sat


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[> [> I think so too. She was one of a kind and you know that 'one' teacher that you 'get' or that you will always remember - it was her. -- Tracyg, 16:55:34 11/21/05 Mon


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