A Student of Weather (Paperback)

Norma Joyce Hardy initiates a life-long adoration of Maurice Dove with a touch on his cheek. That she's but a child is of little moment. That she's overshadowed by her sister's beauty becomes even less so. Even at nine years of age, she's driven by determination to find the means to supplant Lucinda. Resentful of her sister's looks, industry, and favoured place with their father, she becomes secretive, duplicitous, devious. Lucinda, having replaced their dead mother, is vulnerable, and Norma Joyce takes advantage of that exposure. Maurice becomes the tool for expressing Norma's envy, but she becomes the victim of her own machinations. Maurice, unsurprisingly, is following his own agenda, and Norma's place in it is problematic.

In pursuit of Maurice, Norma Joyce's life orbits like an erratic comet. From the most rural to the most urban environments in North America and back again, her loci remain vague. Only Maurice is a fixed point, but that seeming stability actually is the cause of her displacements. She is torn between seeking and avoiding him, particularly when the attainment of her goal leads to the inevitable result. Hay brings the Hardy family out of dry Saskatchewan to "golden" Ontario. Ottawa, however pleasant and green, fails to bring rest, and Norma pursues Maurice to New York City. A greater contrast to Prairie Canada can hardly be imagined, but Hay guides us through Norma's transition flawlessly. New York, however, doesn't resolve her situation with Maurice, which grows ever more complicated. Nor is the relationship of the sisters granted an easy path. Who carries the burden of Lucinda's fate will be the topic of endless debate.

Hay's account is admirable in its prowess in compelling attention to people and places. The factual nature of her characters, their failure to fulfill simple expectations is a credit to her skills. A love story of sorts, this is hardly a "romantic novel." It is a richly rewarding story, worthy of your attention. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A Student of Weather is the story of two sisters in love with the same man. It is the story of Norman Joyce and her unrequited love for Dove, the student of weather. It is the story of how she tries to gain his love and the tragic aftermath of it. It is the story of betrayal to her sister, the lovely Lucinda. Lucinda, the sweet one, but was she?

To me, though, the book is mainly about the language. Ms. Hay can make the drab look beautiful. One passage which held my attention was:

". . . who boasted that his women could survive on the food they licked off the spoon that stirred his pot? A remark she'd come across in a book about the far north, and never forgotten. A fantastic statement; no less so when applied to love."

A story of unrequited love told in moving metaphors.

The tension between the sisters is as old as mankind, and Norma Joyce is unable to do anything but what speaks to her true nature. The sisters peaceful coexistence is threatened by the reality of Maurice, ultimately defining each young woman in unexpected ways.

Norma seems at times driven by her own dark desire, even as a child. Her challenge is to live in a way that is self- rather than other-defining. Her true identity remains in shadow until she learns to walk comfortably through the rooms of her own soul, accepting the limitations of her family's inability to express love.

The texture of this novel is extraordinary. A first-time read is only the beginning; A STUDENT OF WEATHER will take on new incarnations with each reading.