Adele Wiseman tells the story of her mother's dollmaking. The dolls are all different, made from "found" objects, and are made mainly to be given to sick children. Adele gradually teases out the deeper impulses behind her mother's activity, in the process revealing a lot about what creativity really is: part of our human birthright, and not restricted to an exclusive club of "great artists" (although Adele Wiseman's novels arguably show her as a great artist herself). The book traces a deepening path of gradual revelations about what is really going on. It is an inspiring and, finally, moving tribute.

i enjoyed this book because it really makes you appreciate the plight of others less fortunate than ourselves. i have never read adele wisemans' books before but i think i will read further as she demonstrates extraordinary talent in capturing the sacrifice and struggle of the human heart.

"The Sacrifice" was a landmark in Canadian literary history, the first runaway world bestseller. It is a national shame that this title is now out of print. World class writers like Wiseman and Kogawa are all too often ethnicized into oblivion by our culture. If this must be their fate in a still-parochial nation, perhaps those descendents of the old north end of Winnipeg can take a fresh look at Wiseman's powerful work and find a way to make it available to new generations. Wiseman's three great and out-of-print titles, "The Sacrifice", "Old Woman at Play", and "Old Markets, New World" cry out for a benefactor. Izzy, where are you? Works like this can easily sell out a Canadian run of 10,000.

I read "The Stone Angel" back in high school as required reading for my senior year English class, so naturally I despised it. A Canadian novel about old age had nothing to do with me, a teenager in Tampa Bay; so apart from helping me earn an "A," I had no particularly good feelings toward the book. However, after revisiting it later as a student at the University of Florida, I had a change of opinion.

Margaret Laurence's independent voice and candid description of the physical and psychological battle of growing old deserve special attention. In Hagar Shipley, she has created a character worthy of contempt, pity, and eventually admiration. Though I wish she had done more with the book's other characters, Laurence's mastery of the protagonist and her ability to mold the reader's reactions to her stand out nonetheless. Before you reach ninety yourself, I recommend that you read this novel.

As you can probably tell by some of the other reviews, this book will NOT be for everyone. If you're looking for a quick escape, lots of action or a strong romance, this is not the book you want. However, if you enjoy books that aren't your usual fare and are strong on psychological tension, this is an excellent choice. I absolutely loved this story of an elderly woman, a rather judgmental, cantankerous person. I like novels that show how a person grows and changes and I find slow change to be most believable and true to life, as it is in this book. Many readers may have found Hagar Shipley's life to be rather mundane, even dull. But I didn't - her marriage to a man she eventually saw as inferior and coarse, her relationship with her children, her desire to make a proper home and better herself - were all quite realistic to me. As she becomes increasingly frail and dependent on her son and daughter-in-law, she also comes to see her life in a different way. I won't reveal more but I do urge you to read this one and stick with it. Odds are, you'll want to read more by the gifted author, Margaret Laurence.

Though I'm not Canadian, I too feel great shame for those Canadians who dislike Margaret Laurence and have no apparent literary taste. However, I find this book to be absolutely stupendous and absorbing. I have read it 4 times, and it only seems to get better with each read. I am not just saying this.

Never has there been a more realistic and likeable character than Mrs. Hagar Shipley, someone everyone should be more like. Her unabashed honesty is truly heartwarming. If this is not a feel-good story, then I simply don't know what is!! This is the feel-good book of the year.... This is no overstatement.

Yes. It is sad that people die. But if people did so with as much dignity as Hagar, the world would be a better place. And, no, I am not just saying that, again.

Why hasn't this fine novel---this vanguard story--been adapted into movie form? I see the unflappable Glenn Close playing Hagar--with courage and grace. She's divine.

Those who did not like the book likely did not understand its messages. Uninformed readers are the worst.