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The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
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The Fire-Dwellers

by Margaret Laurence

Series: Manawaka cycle (3)

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204227,288 (3.9)5
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The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence: an excellent book: I read this book for an independent study, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Margaret Laurence always does an incredible job of creating characters that are very real, and that teach her readers to be empathetic toward other human beings. Stacey MacAindra is no exception. She is an accurate portrayal of an ordinary Canadian woman, wife and mother. Her story draws attention to many of the inner conflicts and challenges that ordinary people face every day that we often ignore or don't notice. The Fire-Dwellers is a very real story, and Margaret Laurence is right on in her description of the emotions and thoughts of Stacey and everyone in Canada who is like Stacey.
  iayork | Aug 9, 2009 |
"Better to marry than burn, St. Paul said, but he didn't say what to do if you marry and burn."

That one line sums up this book perfectly. It's another story of regret, of looking back on your life and wondering if you made the right decisions, how different your life could be if you'd done things differently, and if it's worth giving up an unhappy, if safe and comfortable, existence for a chance at happiness. It really makes you wonder if any of us really have any idea at all of what would make us truly happy. I think I should definitely look into reading more of her work. ( )
  choebe | Dec 10, 2007 |
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
If I pass the burial spot of Nero/I shall say to the wind, "Well, well"--/I who have fiddled in a world on fire,/I who have done so many stunts not worth doing. --Carl Sandburg, Letters
Dedication
First words
Ladybird, ladybird,/Fly away home;/Your house is on fire,/Your children are gone. Crazy rhyme. Got it on the brain this morning.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original publication date1969
SeriesManawaka cycle (3)
EpigraphIf I pass the burial spot of Nero/I shall say to the wind, "Well, well"--/I who have fiddled in a world on fire,/I who have done so many stunts not worth doing. --Carl Sandburg, Letters
First wordsLadybird, ladybird,/Fly away home;/Your house is on fire,/Your children are gone. Crazy rhyme. Got it on the brain this morning.
DescriptionFrom the back cover:

'Okay, God, say what you like, but I damn well wish I could get away just sometimes by myself. But no. It's a criminal offence, nearly. What makes any of them think they've got the right to tell me... (show all)
Book description
From the back cover:

'Okay, God, say what you like, but I damn well wish I could get away just sometimes by myself. But no. It's a criminal offence, nearly. What makes any of them think they've got the right to tell me own me have me always there'.

Stacey, aged thirty-nine, looks at the unmade bed, the pile of laundry - perhaps everything would be all right if she were better educated, or if she were beautiful or slimmer? Her marriage has worn threadbare, the children are growing up, and beneath the suburban facade of salesman's wife and competent mother Stacey questions herself and berates a Creator she trusts and doubts by turns. Feeling inadequate and rebellious, she retaliates by finding another, younger, man. The excitement of an affair is palpable, but its benefits are short lived; drink satisfies another kind of craving, but bottles run dry without offering a real solution. The only way Stacey can resolve her crisis is by understanding the woman she sees in the mirror...Written in Margaret Laurence's original and distinctive style, this is a compassionate exploration of an all too familiar dilemma.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0226469514, Paperback)

Convinced that life has more to offer than the tedious routine of her days, Stacey MacAindra yearns to recover some of the passion of her early romance. In this extraordinary novel, Margaret Laurence has given us yet another unforgettable heroine: smart, witty, but overwhelmed by the responsibilities of raising four children and trying to love her overworked husband. The Fire Dwellers helps us to rediscover all the richness of the commonplace, as well as the pain, beauty—and humor—of being alive.

"Stacey's state of mind is revealed in a swift-flowing stream of dialogue, reaction, reproach, and nostalgia. . . . [Laurence] is the best fiction writer in the Dominion and one of the best in the hemisphere."—Atlantic

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:01 -0400)

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