First published 1964
Hagar Shipley refuses to go quietly into old age. At ninety, this fierce woman faces her family's plans to place her in a nursing home. Her stubborn nature kicks in one last time as she plots an escape that will give her the freedom she craves. Her defiant act triggers memories of the life that shaped her into such an uncompromising person. We see Hagar as a headstrong girl in a small prairie town, then as a young woman married to Bram Shipley, a rough farmer whose passionate nature both attracts and repels her. Their turbulent marriage produces two sons, and Hagar's fierce love for the younger boy, John, leads her to control and manipulate his life in ways that damage them both. Now, as an elderly woman, Hagar must confront how her pride and the harsh pioneer values she inherited have isolated her from those she loves most.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Prairie, Small Town
Period: 20th Century
352 pages · Paperback · McClelland & Stewart