Historical Fiction · ThoughtfulA retired historian writes his grandmother's story
Angle of Repose
A retired historian sets out to tell the story of his grandparents in the American West
Lyman Ward is a retired history professor. He is divorced and disabled, and he is dictating this story in 1970. As he copes with a crisis in his own life and tension in his family, he turns to his grandparents' past. He writes about his grandmother Susan Burling Ward, a New York writer and artist, and her husband Oliver, a mining engineer, using her letters and other sources.
More about this book
Who
Lyman Ward, the narrator; his grandmother Susan Burling Ward, a writer and artist; and his grandfather Oliver Ward, a mining engineer.
World
Late-nineteenth-century mining towns and frontier places in the American West, including Grass Valley, Leadville and New Almaden, with a frame set in 1970.
What makes it different
The novel draws heavily on the letters of Mary Hallock Foote, a use that some scholars have criticized. It won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted as an opera in 1976.
Feel
Reflective and detailed, a two-generation story told at a measured pace.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Behind the book
The novel draws heavily on the letters of Mary Hallock Foote. Stegner's use of these passages has been controversial among some scholars.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Angle of ReposeWikipedia