6
AUGUST 11�18, 2021
FROM THE SHELF
CHECKING OUT THE
WORLD OF BOOKS
Never judge a book by its title
‘The Stone Diaries’ a good discovery
By Cheryl Hoefl er
GO! Magazine
S
urprises often pop up in the unlikeli-
est of places.
That’s what happened to me dur-
ing a recent road trip to the East Coast.
While stretching my stiff legs at an Ohio
campground, I selected a copy of “The
Stone Diaries” by Carol Shields from a rec
room shelf. I’d never heard of the book or
Shields, and was shocked to learn both
have been around a long time.
Written in 1993, “The Stone Diaries”
won a Pulitzer Prize and was Shields’ fi rst
noteworthy work. Shields, who died in
2003, has a lengthy bibliography and a
strong following.
I’ll confess, despite the Pulitzer Prize
notoriety, I almost passed on this one.
A “diary” sounded kind of boring. I was
looking for a captivating story.
However, “The Stone Diaries” was not
a diary at all and proof that you shouldn’t
judge a book by its cover — or title.
The story is the fi ctional autobiog-
raphy of Daisy Stone Goodwill Flett,
from her unlikely — and one might say
miraculous — birth on a kitchen fl oor in
rural Canada in 1905 to her death at a
rest home in sunny Florida some 90-plus
years later.
Shields weaves a pretty darn good tale
from the threads of one woman’s mostly
unremarkable life.
An ordinary woman, Daisy seems to
be on a constant search for identity and
purpose. She recounts the events and
experiences of her life from both fi rst-
and third-person views; how and when
Shields crafts this shift is hardly percep-
tible. At times, letters and accounts by
others in Daisy’s life off er contrasting
perspectives and even a few revelations.
Family photos provide a factual fl avor to
the story.
As I sped through the fi rst pages, I
realized the time frame was that of my
grandmothers — who also had rural up-
bringings in the early 1900s — and I be-
gan to view Daisy in them, pondering my
grandmothers as girls and young women.
What were their dreams and longings?
Did they also struggle for identity and
purpose?
I guess these are quests we all wrestle
with at one time or another, regardless of
generation or geography.
Through the span of Daisy’s life, read-
ers are also taken on a historical ride
across the vastly changing landscape
and times of the 20th century in North
America.
t
sco oo u k n s on a ly)
i
d
0% d b ing
b
k clu
1 printe re buy with a boo
(on if you a ticipate
r
to pa
book
I’m usually happy to re-circulate books
at random Little Free Libraries — or
campground rec rooms — but this one I’ll
keep for awhile. And I’m on the hunt for
more literary adventures by Carol Shields.
Audio & E-Books Available
1813 Main St, Baker City, OR • (541) 523-7551 • https://bettysbooks.indielite.org