Idella and Avis are the sisters of the title, and "hardscrabble" describes their lives, in all the years from 1916 to 1987. In isolated New Brunswick, Canada, the girls watch their mother die in childbirth in the first chapter, and are left with their ineffectual father and brother. They both manage to get away to the States as they reach adolescence, and find life there equally difficult.
But, Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay is not a dreary book, and contains much humor and even joy. Both sisters have a strong survival instinct and live with their disappointments and keep going. The characters are marvelously well-drawn, and you will feel you know not only Idella and Avis, but also the men in their lives, father, brother, husbands, and lovers.
This is all remarkable for two reasons. One, the tale of the sisters' lives is told in a series of vivid stories--not a style I usually like, but very powerful here. From one story to the next, the characters jump over years, but the author makes very clear what has happened in the intervening time.
And, the second reason is that Beverly Jensen died in 2003 of cancer, before any of her writing had been published. The combined actions of her husband and her writing teachers, as well as famous authors like Stephen King and Joyce Carol Oates, got these stories published, to excellent reviews.
And, a third reason, I guess: the family name of Idella and her philandering husband is Jensen, and I was left wondering which stories had come directly from the author's family background. I liked the book and the characters a lot, found it easy, entertaining, and thought-provoking to read, and think it would make for a great discussion.
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