In Hagar Shipley, Margaret Laurence has created one of the boldest, most memorable characters in Canadian fiction. Raise according to the stern virtues of her pioneer ancestors, Hagar Shipley leads a life of uncompromising pride--a pride which sustained her during a stormy marriage, but which lost her favourite son. As her story unfolds we are given vividly etched descriptions of Hagar as a young girl in a remote prairie town; of her now estranged husband; of John, her outoing son; and Marvin, the son she never loved. And now, with her life nearly behind her, Hagar makes a bold, last step towards freedom and independence, and in the Process gains a deeper understanding of the meaning of acceptance.
Adele Wiseman Knihy
Adele Wiseman bola kanadská autorka, ktorej diela sa ponorili do hlbín identity a vyhostenia. Jej rodičia, ruskí Židia, utiekli z Ukrajiny, aby unikli pogromom, a táto skúsenosť s exodusom a hľadaním nového domova sa pravdepodobne premietla do jej literárnych tém. Wisemanová sa vo svojich dielach zaoberala zložitými ľudskými osudmi, často prostredníctvom príbehov, ktoré skúmali sociálne a kultúrne strety. Jej inovatívny prístup a prenikavé písanie zanechali v kanadskej literatúre nezmazateľnú stopu.
Hoda is a prostitute, but that is not the most important fact about her. Earthy, bawdy, vulnerable, and big-hearted, she is the daughter of an impoverished Jewish couple who emigrated from Russia to Canada to escape persecution. Growing up in a ghetto of Winnipeg, she experiences cruelty and bigotry early and fights back with humor and anger, which is something to behold as her young body takes on gargantuan proportions. In the neighborhood, she is considered a crackpot and worse. In truth, she is a cracked pot, a flawed human being, but her quest for love, which brings hope out of humiliation, is one of the most memorable in modern fiction. Crackpot , set in the period between two world wars, is Adele Wiseman's comic vision, for all its darkness. Somewhat satirically, the novel touches on puritanical hypocrisy and the inhumanity of institutions, notably the schools and the welfare system. Hoda, caught in a web of relationships beginning with her blind father and humpbacked mother, is its great heartbeat.