Book Review / The Stone Angel by Margaret Lawrence

In her best-loved novel, The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence introduces Hagar Shipley, one of the most memorable characters in Canadian fiction. Stubborn, querulous, self-reliant – and, at ninety, with her life nearly behind her – Hagar Shipley makes a bold last step towards freedom and independence.

As her story unfolds, we are drawn into her past. We meet Hagar as a young girl growing up in a black prairie town; as the wife of a virile but unsuccessful farmer with whom her marriage was stormy; as a mother who dominates her younger son; and, finally, as an old woman isolated by an uncompromising pride and by the stern virtues she has inherited from her pioneer ancestors.

Vivid, evocative, moving, The Stone Angel celebrates the triumph of the spirit, and reveals Margaret Laurence at the height of her powers as a writer of extraordinary craft and profound insight into the workings of the human heart.



Published:     8th September 2016 (originally in 1964)
Publisher:  Apollo
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher
 

MY REVIEW

It is not often that I picked up a classic or book older than I am but I have to be honest and say that this beautiful cover drew me in along with the description of what the story was about.  Little did I know that this book would be such an emotional read I just could not put it down and read this in one day.  It was very slow to start with and it did take me a while to get into the story but it was definitely worth the effort, that's for sure.   We follow Hagar who is around 90 years old living with her son and his wife.  We see flashes of her past as she remembers it but what made this story great for me was seeing her in her 90 year old self where she would have these 'flash backs' but she was actually zoning out and forgetting where she was in the present day.  We see her decline in heath with her son's wife trying to help the best that she can but even she is getting to the end of her tether.  The most emotional part of the story for me was the ending.  Even though I should have expected the ending, I really didn't and it was very emotional to finish reading the book in that way.  

A heartbreakingly emotional classic that I would highly recommend reading...  For me, I would say it is a great read for the Autumn/Winter months...