LAUREN B. DAVIS is the author of The Radiant City, which was a finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and Rat Medicine and Other Unlikely Curatives, a collection of short stories. The Stubborn Season was selected for the prestigious Robert Adams Lecture Series. Born in Montreal, Lauren B. Davis later lived in France for ten years. She now lives in Princeton, New Jersey. Visit her at www.laurenbdavis.com.
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PRAISE FOR The Stubborn Season
“A gleaming debut … a terrific first novel … compelling social history … Davis superbly registers the sly skills young Irene develops in order to navigate her treacherous existence … Davis turn[s] a discerning lens upon Canadians of British stock. Unlike most Canadian novelists, she treats the very mainstream MacNeils as the product of a particular culture, and then she subtly compares that culture with others…. Davis bravely admits—then interrogates—the prevalent racist attitudes … This is a wonderful novel … every character is sincerely drawn; these sentences just gleam. The Stubborn Season is one of those rare novels I look forward to reading again.”
—Donna Bailey Nurse, The Toronto Star
“The Stubborn Season is precise, polished … bind[s] the attention through the excellence of its sharp, precise prose, generously laced with authentic history. Davis’s astute psychological observations render the two main characters insistently real … Irene has all our sympathy … Her determination to survive the dual challenges of socio-economic disaster and incompetent parenting are positively inspirational … Davis explore[s] the cultural diversity of the country, exposing the bigotry and anti-Semitism of the day … While deftly balancing the personal and political, Davis refuses to succumb to the predictable. Her poetic flourishes are sparingly applied, to strong effect … All this makes for an exceptionally satisfying read. Like Mary Lawson’s Crow Lake, The Stubborn Season raises the bar for first novels.”
—Pat Donnelly, The Gazette (Montreal)
“A fine novel in the great Canadian storytelling tradition, Lauren B. Davis’s voice is as authentic, compelling and deep as a Mordecai Richler or Robertson Davies at their best … The Stubborn Season is tremendously evocative of a time when hardship wore very thin the veneer of civilization, bringing out both the best and the worst in people. A real literary achievement.”
—The Paris Voice
“The Stubborn Season ranges through a wide landscape of history and intimacy, thwarted private dreams and public oppression … a skilful weaving of emotion and event … poignant and well-crafted. Best of all is how Davis brings together the different events that had a long-range impact on every Canadian … this novel succeeds as a compassionate portrait of a country sharing a struggle … an epiphanic hourglass for the harsh dust that trickled through one of the worst of times.”
—The Globe and Mail
“Not since Barry Broadfoot’s Ten Lost Years has there been such a compelling portrait of Depression-era Canada … The writing is strong and sure-handed, the characters well drawn and memorable.”
—Books in Canada
“Davis’s writing is vivid … Her description of Irene’s desire for fulfillment and love is particularly inspiring … The Stubborn Season is a vibrant portrait of a family … Davis is interested in the things that drive people, whether it be the need to find meaning in their lives or the need to find their true selves.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“… well researched and crisply written … Davis’s talent is unmistakable … she evokes with harrowing precision …. Margaret is one of the most memorable characters I have encountered in contemporary Canadian fiction … inspiring … Davis’s portrayal of Depression survivors shows the human spirit can be amazingly strong and resilient.”
—National Post
Credits
COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Hulton Archive
COVER DESIGN: From an original design by Paul Hodgson
Copyright
The Stubborn Season
Copyright © 2002 by Lauren Davis.
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EPUB Edition December 2014 ISBN 9781443444729
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FIRST PAPERBACK EDITION
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National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Davis, Lauren B., 1955–
The stubborn season / Lauren B. Davis.
ISBN 0-00-639186-9
I. Title.
PS8557.A8384S88 2003 C813’.6C2002-904693-9
PR9199.4.D39S88 2003
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RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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