Hagar Shipley comes to terms with her life as she fights against her own aging. Set in a small Canadian prairie town, the story of The Stone Angel is told by Hagar Currie Shipley, the protagonist. When we meet her she is a strong willed ninety year old woman, displeased to be living with her second favorite son, Marvin, and his wife, Doris, and facing countless regrets about her life. The novel flashes back to her youth and young adulthood, her married life and middle age, so that we can come to a full understanding of why Hagar is so bitter and unhappy.
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Hagar's mother died when she gave birth to her, and she was raised by her class conscious shopkeeper father and aunt. To illustrate how prosperous the family was, her father erected an expensive statue of a stone angel on her mother's grave. Sadly, something intended to be a monument to a loved one becomes a metaphor for how hard, prideful and loveless Hagar becomes in her life, even though she spends her entire life as a caretaker to her family.
Hagar is consumed by proper behaviour, schooling, pedigree, and financial success to the point that she alienates those she loves who don't meet her high standards. She marries her husband Bram Shipley out of love, and a desire to escape her father's house, but then spends her days regretting this alliance with a poor, unmannered farmer. She puts all of her hope and affection into her son John, who takes after her side of the family, but in the end, if is Marvin, her other son, who stands by her and cares for her in her old age.
Hagar “runs away” from Marvin and his wife when she is 90, as this story begins. As the story ends and she returns to their care, she has journeyed through her past in her mind, and has finally made peace with her life choices and their consequences.
Best part of story, including ending:
I loved the writing, but the character of Hagar was so stubborn and proud that she drove me a little nuts!
Best scene in story:
I loved the scene when Hagar thinks she is putting jewels in her hair, but she is having a "senior moment" and she is actually putting junebugs onto her head.
Opinion about the main character:
I disliked that Hagar was so prideful that she would choose unhappiness over losing face.
