The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

 

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields.

Published 25th September 2020 by World Editions.

From the cover of the book:

New foreword by Margaret Atwood.

Widely regarded as a modern classic, The Stone Diaries is the story of one woman’s life; that of Daisy Goodwill Flett, a seemingly ordinary woman born in Canada in 1905. 

Beautifully written and deeply compassionate, it follows Daisy’s life through marriage, widowhood, motherhood, and old age, as she charts her own path alongside that of an unsettled century.

 A subtle but affective portrait of an everywoman reflecting on an unconventional life, this multi-award-winning story deals with everyday issues of existence with an extraordinary vibrancy and irresistible flair.

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Welcome to the life of Daisy Goodwill Flett, a seemingly ordinary woman born in Canada in 1905, who follows the path laid out for her almost all the way through the twentieth century, taking in, and sometimes struggling with, the changes that come with the times, especially for women. Daisy's story is broken up into sections that take us through the experiences and feelings associated with each stage of her long life from Birth to Death, via Childhood, Marriage, Love, Motherhood, Work, Sorrow, Ease, and Illness and Decline.

This is what I would call a 'quiet book' - not to say that momentous things do not happen in the life of Daisy, because they do, but it is written with an almost distant lyrical reflectiveness that serves to remove you a step back from the intensity of feeling a life such as Daisy's would normally evoke. It's almost like looking through a dusty scrapbook of photographs, fragments of journals, newspaper cuttings and letters that give you a glimpse into the life someone has led, rather than being at their side for the duration of the story - and the inclusion of an incredible fictional photo album and family tree all add to the effect.

The scrapbook feeling is enhanced by the way Carol Shields tells Daisy's story through the eyes of her friends, family and acquaintances for almost the entire book, with our main character practically in the wings for most of the time. We largely get to know her from the accounts and assumptions of others, rather than through her own consciousness, which I found rather intriguing. So on the rare occasions when the point of view actually does shift to Daisy herself the moments are particularly telling about the woman we thought we knew. 

One of the things that really comes across in this book is the clever use of letters in moving the story forward. This is not an epistolary novel, although letters are used on and off throughout the text, but our author knows just how and when to use them to the best effect - especially in the Work section of the book, which is is entirely made up of letters of various sorts. I don't think have ever read a chapter of a book that conveys the impact of the events we are hearing about on our protagonist in this way as well as Carol Shields does here - without ever once showing a letter from Daisy herself. It's brilliant.

This is the kind of book that somehow gets under your skin and you find you are unable to look away for a moment. There is so much about Daisy's story that resonates about the human experience, particularly the parts about middle age and later life. I easily managed to finish this in two sittings, and it leaves you with a lot of things to think about, primarily from the times when we get to see into Daisy's own mind and can appreciate the stark differences that sometimes exist between her inner thoughts and the way others see her - especially her feelings of frustration over an unfulfilled life.

I did find it a rather sad book overall, even though it is not without its moments of love, joy and absurdity, although interestingly this did not detract in any way from the pleasure it gave me in reading it, because it is so beautifully written - but I think Carol Shields says it best herself, so I will sign off with her own words on the matter here:

"I did believe, as I wrote the final chapter, that I had written a sad book. From its inception I found myself writing the phrase 'I am not at peace'. When I got there, finally, on the second-to-last-page, I was reluctant to register those words. My wont had always been to find harmony and reconciliation, but the phrase pressed on my consciousness - and my conscience. Finally, I committed it to print. I've learned to live with that hard choice."

 

The Stone Diaries is available to buy now in paperback from our favourite book retailer

 (ISBN: 9781912987191 ASN B08G6TKQKX Price: £9.99 FOR SALE IN: UK, IRELAND, EUROPE)

Thank you to World Editions and Turnaround Publisher Services for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Carol Shields (1935–2003) was born in the United States, and emigrated to Canada when she was 22. 

She is acclaimed for her empathetic and witty, yet penetrating insights into human nature. 

Her most famous novel The Stone Diaries was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, along with the Governor General’s Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Happenstance was praised as her tour de force, masterly combining two novels in one. The international bestseller Mary Swann was awarded with the Arthur Ellis Award for best Canadian mystery, while The Republic of Love was chosen as the first runner-up for the Guardian Fiction Prize. 

In 2020, the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, a North American literary award dedicated to writing by women, was set up in her honour. Her work has been published in over 30 languages.