The diviners (Laurence) 323

Regular readers will know that I have "discovered" Laurence this year and have hugely enjoyed reading her books for this challenge. The diviners was the fourth and final one of her novels published as a VMC; she has also written a book of short stories (A bird in the trees) which fits into the Manawaka sequence but which hasn't been published as a VMC.

Like the other books in the sequence, it portrays a "strong woman" and her search for identity; now this is nothing new but Laurence, writing in the 1960s and 1970s, really pre-dates the woman's movement, but it is fitting that it should be included in the Virago Modern Classics series. The book is the story of Morag Gunn, now in her 40s, who looks back over her life through a series of flashbacks and memories - these are cleverly described through looking at photographs ( subtitled eachtime"Snapshot") and by more active thoughts (subtitled "Memory bank movie"). It's a very clever approach that combines present and past and enables the reader to be involved in the past as if it were the present.

Morag Gunn, like Laurence's other female characters has a mixed life. Her parents died when she was very young, and she ended up in the prairie town of Manawaka living with a childless couple. We see her through her schooldays, growing up and coming of age, her on-off love affairs, and then her career as a writer and relationship with her daughter. Essentially a wonderful life-story book, I wonder if any of it reflects Laurence's life. I must find a biography of Laurence!

Definitely a classic.

It's been published twice by Virago; unfortunately my copy came from the library and wasn't a Virago, but I'd rather like a copy of the second later edition as it matches my copy of Stone Angel. 3.5*
(Overall I think that my favourite Laurence is probably Stone Angel or Jest of God, but all and any of them are worth reading)

The fire-dwellers (Laurence) 304

It didn't take long for me to get around to reading the third of Laurence's Manawaka novels, having so much enjoyed the first two in the sequence (Stone Angel and Jest of God), but I was further spurred on by discovering The fire-dwellers inclusion in the Lost Booker prize longlist. (In fact, another VMC is featured on the list - The birds on the trees).

This book is a portrait of jaded mother Stacey, tackling the issues of parenthood and marriage and the frustration that Stacey feels. Stacey is married to a salesman, but they barely talk these days. Her children are growing up and don't need her so much. And she isn't really sure where she is going in life. It's a book about struggling for happiness and wondering quite what that happiness would be if it arrived. There's not so much a story or a plot but a dialogue between Stacey and herself and those around to build up a picture of ordinary life that is very easy to identify with.

So how do I rate this book's chances of being selected for the Lost Booker shortlist? I think the book is quite dated now. If it had been Jest of God, I would have said certainly that it was worthy of inclusion, but I think it is very unlikely that this one will make the cut. Which is a shame as I would like to see a resurgence of popularity for Laurence who I would not have encountered but for this challenge.

It's just been published the once by Virago with this original green cover.

The jest of God (Laurence) 252

I wrote recently about how much I loved Laurence's Stone Angel, so it wasn't long before I read the other Margaret Laurence I had waiting on my bookshelf. It turns out that Stone Angel wasn't exactly part of a trilogy, but is part of a cycle of books set in the Manitoba town of Manawaka, a fictional Canadian town, loosely based on the town where Laurence lived. The jest of God is the second book in the sequence.

Equally wonderful as The stone angel, The jest of god is a very different tale although there were some elements of similarity. Rachel, the main character, is a Grade 2 teacher, who has returned to the town to live with her somewhat manipulative widowed mother. The old age theme of The stone angel recurs as Rachel lives with her elderly mother and finds herself limited by her preoccupations and difficulties. The main part of the story deals with Rachel meeting Nick, a man who grew up in a different area of Manitoba, who is visiting his parents for the summer. Rachel is extremely naieve, having never had a proper relationship, and it is obvious to the reader, if not to Rachel, what Nick is after. It's very much a book about a woman's emotional journey told through everyday events, but I absolutely loved it.

The book has also been filmed as "Rachel Rachel" with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, but sadly it doesn't seem to be available over here. Very keen to read the other two Margaret Laurence VMCs, so hopefully they will cross my path soon.

Just the one green VMC cover for this item; I am wondering if I should try to persuade Virago to reprint Margaret Laurence as it is a shame that she is not more widely known.

The stone angel (Laurence) 251

"Above the town, on the hill brow, the stone angel used to stand...sumer and winter she viewed the town with sightless eyes. She was doubly blind, not only stone, but unendowed with even a pretence of sight" The stone angel sits on top of the grave of Regina Weese, now forgotten, a fate that seems like to beset the book's narrator.

The stone angel is the wonderful tale narrated by Hagar Shipley. An old lady, living with her son and daughter in law, who wish to put her into a home, she tells us about her life from childhood on the prairie, through marriage, to old age. The people important to Shipley are wonderfully evoked, making for a beautiful read. Astoundingly, although Hagar is 90, Laurence was only in her thirties when she wrote it, which is all the more impressive. I don't want to give too much away about the story, but it is so cleverly constructed, taking the reader between present, and past, and then into the future.

This book is the first book of a trilogy; the remaining titlesJest of God and the Fire-dwellers are also published by Virago, as is another one of her novels. I will be intrigued to read the rest of the trilogy, since apparently the second book has been filmed (and it seems unusual to film the second of three...). Published twice by Virago, my copy has the more recent cover.