Set in the fictitious town of Manawaka, Manitoba, Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel offers a moving portrait of its protagonist, nonagenarian Hagar Shiply, as she struggles to come to terms with the troubles of her past in a dramatic story of a life drawing to a close. Alongside the other novels in her “Manawaka series”—A Jest of God, The Fire-Dwellers, A Bird in the House: Stories, and The Diviners—Laurence’s The Stone Angel has been lauded as one of her most poignant narratives and the most famous work by one of Canada’s most prominent feminist writers.
The book was also recently made into a feature film by Canadian filmmaker Kari Skogland with its world premiere showing at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. This Friday, July 11 the film will also see its U.S. debut in select theaters, including NYC’s Landmark Century theaters, and hopefully will see a wider distribution (to Chicago maybe) in the following weeks. Check out a trailer for the film on the official The Stone Angel movie website, or find out more about the book here.