The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence is the eloquent story of a 90-year-old woman coming to terms with her life thus far and facing what happens next. Hagar Shipley is frail and dependent on her son and daughter-in-law but unlike many of the kindly “grandmothers” portrayed in fiction, she is stubborn, difficult and sometimes not very likable.
Through flashbacks Hagar tells her story of growing up the daughter of a stern, well-to-do merchant in the fictional town of Manawaka in western Canada. Hagar shows a rebellious streak when she marries Bramwell Shipley, a good dancer and handsome fellow, but one who isn’t quite from her same social class.
I think Hagar’s unflinching honesty as she recalls her life is part of what makes her character believable. For example, here are some of her thoughts on her husband: “Whatever anyone said of him, no one could deny he was a good-looking man. It’s not every man who can wear a beard. His suited him. He was a big-built man, and he carried himself so well. I could have been proud, going to town or church with him, if only he’d never open his mouth.”
Hagar has lived with her decisions and the consequences of her uncompromising attitude; however, now Hagar has to learn acceptance. She may be old and frail but Hagar still wants to be in control of her life even when her son and daughter-in-law have other thoughts. They want Hagar to go to a nursing home but she is adamant that that will be the death of her and so she plans an escape.
This is a novel that focuses on the internal. We have Hagar’s brooding thoughts and her rage at growing older and dependant on others. There are some passages that I found just heartbreaking. And, because of all of this I found Hagar a character with so much depth that you feel like you really know this woman.
I felt a very personal connection with this novel because I’ve seen some of Hagar in some of the women in my family. This novel makes you think about getting older and how each one of us will approach old age. Perhaps that’s why a lot of reviews on Amazon were unfavorable and said who cares about an old, hateful woman. Well, growing older may not be all sunshine and rainbows but shouldn’t we care about older members in our families? And what about when each one of us gets old? We are all going in that direction after all.
I found this to be an excellent book and with so much more to discuss than what I’ve written about. I highly recommend it and I also hope you’ll join in book discussion with the Slaves of Golconda over at the MetaxuCafe forum.
Just reading your review brought to mind my grandmothers. Both struggle(d) with losing their independence, fighting hard to maintain it. One of my grandmother’s is no longer with us, but the other is and it’s getting harder and harder for her.
I definitely will be looking for this one. Thanks for the great review, Iliana.
When you’re really young I think old age is a foreign country–they have no concept of what it’s like and what it means, so most young readers probably have a hard time identifying with the novel. I can appreciate it now (not so sure I would have in high school)–I’ve seen people go through what Marvin and Doris were going through, but what I loved was seeing it all from Hagar’s perspective. You don’t often get into the mind of an elderly person in fiction (though Elizabeth Taylor’s Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont had a similar theme).
Sounds fantastic! I haven’t heard of this one before. What a great review!
Literary Feline – Thank you. I thought of my grandmother a lot too when I was reading this book. It’s just so hard to see someone you love, someone who’s always been so independent start to rely more and more on help isn’t it?
Danielle – I agree. I don’t know that I would have felt such a resonance with this book if I had read it when I was even in my 20s. Oh and I know I want to read Mrs. Palfrey! One of these days.
Stephanie – Thank you. I’d never heard of the book or the writer before either so it was definitely a nice surprise.
I appreciated the very honest portrayal of what it’s like to be old. It seems to me that there aren’t many books about aging — particularly aging women — which makes this book even more valuable.
Iliana, this sounds like a great book! I’ll have to check out this one. Thanks for the review! 🙂
Great review! I really should read this again someday. Being young and forced to read it for school, I’m sure I didn’t appreciate nearly as much as I could have.
Dorothy W. – Oh definitely. Too often it’s someone’s thoughts on the aging person and it’s nice to have the first person narration instead. Made it more believable.
Melody – I hope you do. It’s really good and just makes you think.
Tanabata – Thanks! And, yes, I don’t think I would have gotten nearly as much if I had read this in school. I want to read more by her now too.
This looks good. You write a great review.