- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Toronto, ON, Canada: McClelland & Stewart, 1970; First Edition edition (April 23 1970)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0333110048
- ISBN-13: 978-0333110041
- Shipping Weight: 789 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,493,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
One of Canada’s most accomplished authors combines the best qualities of both the short story and the novel to create a lyrical evocation of the beauty, pain, and wonder of growing up.
In eight interconnected, finely wrought stories, Margaret Laurence recreates the world of Vanessa MacLeod – a world of scrub-oak, willow, and chokecherry bushes; of family love and conflict; and of a girl’s growing awareness of and passage into womanhood. The stories blend into one masterly and moving whole: poignant, compassionate, and profound in emotional impact.
In this fourth book of the five-volume Manawaka series, Vanessa MacLeod takes her rightful place alongside the other unforgettable heroines of Manawaka: Hagar Shipley in The Stone Angel, Rachel Cameron in A Jest of God, Stacey MacAindra in The Fire-Dwellers, and Morag Gunn in The Diviners. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
In eight interconnected, finely wrought stories, Margaret Laurence recreates the world of Vanessa MacLeod – a world of scrub-oak, willow, and chokecherry bushes; of family love and conflict; and of a girl’s growing awareness of and passage into womanhood. The stories blend into one masterly and moving whole: poignant, compassionate, and profound in emotional impact.
In this fourth book of the five-volume Manawaka series, Vanessa MacLeod takes her rightful place alongside the other unforgettable heroines of Manawaka: Hagar Shipley in The Stone Angel, Rachel Cameron in A Jest of God, Stacey MacAindra in The Fire-Dwellers, and Morag Gunn in The Diviners. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Margaret Laurence was born in Neepawa, Manitoba, in 1926. Upon graduation from Winnipeg’s United College in 1947, she took a job as a reporter for the Winnipeg Citizen.
From 1950 until 1957 Laurence lived in Africa, the first two years in Somalia, the next five in Ghana, where her husband, a civil engineer, was working. She translated Somali poetry and prose during this time, and began her career as a fiction writer with stories set in Africa.
When Laurence returned to Canada in 1957, she settled in Vancouver, where she devoted herself to fiction with a Ghanaian setting: in her first novel, This Side Jordan, and in her first collection of short fiction, The Tomorrow-Tamer. Her two years in Somalia were the subject of her memoir, The Prophet’s Camel Bell.
Separating from her husband in 1962, Laurence moved to England, which became her home for a decade, the time she devoted to the creation of five books about the fictional town of Manawaka, patterned after her birthplace, and its people: The Stone Angel, A Jest of God, The Fire-Dwellers, A Bird in the House, and The Diviners.
Laurence settled in Lakefield, Ontario, in 1974. She complemented her fiction with essays, book reviews, and four children’s books. Her many honours include two Governor General’s Awards for Fiction and more than a dozen honorary degrees.
Margaret Laurence died in Lakefield, Ontario, in 1987. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From 1950 until 1957 Laurence lived in Africa, the first two years in Somalia, the next five in Ghana, where her husband, a civil engineer, was working. She translated Somali poetry and prose during this time, and began her career as a fiction writer with stories set in Africa.
When Laurence returned to Canada in 1957, she settled in Vancouver, where she devoted herself to fiction with a Ghanaian setting: in her first novel, This Side Jordan, and in her first collection of short fiction, The Tomorrow-Tamer. Her two years in Somalia were the subject of her memoir, The Prophet’s Camel Bell.
Separating from her husband in 1962, Laurence moved to England, which became her home for a decade, the time she devoted to the creation of five books about the fictional town of Manawaka, patterned after her birthplace, and its people: The Stone Angel, A Jest of God, The Fire-Dwellers, A Bird in the House, and The Diviners.
Laurence settled in Lakefield, Ontario, in 1974. She complemented her fiction with essays, book reviews, and four children’s books. Her many honours include two Governor General’s Awards for Fiction and more than a dozen honorary degrees.
Margaret Laurence died in Lakefield, Ontario, in 1987. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
I recommend this book,
By abby (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Bird in the House: Stories (Phoenix Fiction Series) (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this book. We studied it in school this year and at first I found it a bit slow but after a few pages I started to really get into it. It was easy to identify with the main character Vanessa and I really liked the way the rest of the characters were described, especially the grandfather. Here's a little example; "Well, Peter, you've brought the wood." It was his habit to begin conversations with a statement of the obvious, so that nothing except agreement was possible." I like this because it sums up the grandfather' character in two sentences, even though it's being developped throughout the entire novel. I can't really explain exactly why I enjoyed this book so much, I guess it's because of the subtle humor and the emotion involved. The sad parts are quite moving, and that's difficult to do without making the whole book depressing.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
True to life, haunting realism,
By Jennie (Ottawa, ON, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Bird in the House (Paperback)
Personally, I feel this book is far from outmoded. It reminded me a lot of my own life, growing up in rural Canada in the 1990s and early twenty-first century. Not to mention the fact that the Great Depression pervades this book, and in 2010 we are just now emerging from an economically devastating recession. For me, "A Bird in the House" hit home. The second time I read it, I was almost crying at the end. Just the thought of so many people dying that you once knew, a house you grew up in, a house that marked you, being lived in by strangers. The book has a very rich subtext, and yet doesn't come across as a pretentious metaphor. It is very real.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
this book was insightful yet lacked detail,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Bird in the House (Paperback)
this book did not quite meet my expectations like other works written by margaret laurence. it lacked in detail and plot development. i would recommend this book to persons not familiar with ms. laurence's style but to those who are fans of her literature, my advice is to stay away from this one. thanks ms. mackinnon
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