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As she approaches her death, Hagar Shipley - an irascible, independent nonagenarian - rages against the dying of the light.

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´The Apollo choices have been masterful. The list is thought-provoking, eye-opening, inspired and inspiring´ The Big Issue .

Above the town, on the hill brow, the stone angel used to stand. I wonder if she stands there yet...

Hagar Shipley - an irascible, independent nonagenarian - has lived a quiet life full of rage. As she approaches her death, she retreats from the squabbling of her son and his wife to reflect on her past - her ill-advised marriage, her two sons, the harshness of farm life on the prairie, her own failures and the betrayals and failures of others.

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´The Apollo choices have been masterful. The list is thought-provoking, eye-opening, inspired and inspiring´ The Big Issue .

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Laurence, Margaret
Margaret Laurence (1926-1987) grew up in the small prairie town of Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. Recognised as one of the greatest Canadian writers, her masterwork is the Manawaka sequence: five novels of which <i>The Fire-Dwellers</i> is the third. The first, <i>The Stone Angel</i>, and the second, <i>A Jest of God</i>, are both available from Apollo.

Schmidt, Michael
Michael Schmidt is the founder of Carcanet Press and the general editor of PN Review. He was until recently Professor of Poetry at the University of Glasgow. He has also been Writer in Residence at St John´s College, Cambridge.

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