Bookish old ladies

Alive, Alive, Oh!: And Other Things That Matter : Diana Athill

I am finding my project of reading books by or about very old women rather dispiriting. Why am I surprised that a major concern seems to be being put away in a nursing home by families who have had enough? I am able to assure you, though, this seems to happen after one reaches the ninety mark; able bodied women in the seventies and eighties seem to be able to be independent for the time being. But so far three of the books I have read have a common thread; the old female protagonist runs away from home in an attempt to remain free. Although this is usually doomed to failure due to their debility.

Margaret Laurence : The Stone Angel

My project for April, to read eight (or more) books by or about very old women is off to a roaring start with The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence. I am ashamed to say that while I have read a few Canadian authors, Carol Shields, Robertson Davies, Emily St John Mandel and Margaret Atwood, I had not heard of Margaret Laurence. I now discover she is a superb writer, up there with the truly greats, awarded honours in Canada with university departments named after her, and an essential  early member of an emerging Canadian literature tradition.