When The Stone Angel was first published in 1964, most reviewers recognized it as a major achievement. Robertson Davies, in The New York Times Book Review, praised Laurence's insight into character as well as her "freshness of approach . . . her gift for significant detail." The most notable quality of the novel, according to Davies, is "her form and style. . . . She has chosen to relate the story of Hagar in a series of flashbacks, and in the work of writers whose sense of form is defective this device can be wearisome and confusing. Mrs. Laurence slips in and out of the past with the greatest of ease, without arousing any doubts of chronology." Davies also admires the language of the novel, its "good firm vocabulary, congruous with the mind of Hagar herself.".....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 669 words. This
study guide contains 35,385 words (approx. 118 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our The Stone Angel Access Pass.
