A Student of Weather

Starred review from February 1, 2001
"Two sisters fell down the same well, and the well was Maurice Dove." Acclaimed Canadian short story writer Hay's first novel, recently shortlisted for the prestigious Giller Prize, is a compelling and highly original debut telling the story of two sisters and the jealousy that irrevocably changes their lives when a young student comes to stay on their father's Saskatchewan farm in the 1930s. Ernest Hardy is widowed, a single father raising two young girls on the rural prairies, when twenty-something Maurice Dove arrives from Ottawa to study the region's unusual weather patterns. Eight-year-old Norma Joyce, dark, fiercely intelligent, and inflicted with early puberty, claims Maurice from the first moment she sees him, albeit unrequitedly. Her sister, the "beautiful, saintly" Lucinda, 17, falls deeply in love. After Maurice leaves and his letters stop coming, Lucinda suffers a two-month-long deep depression. Seven years later, the sisters cannot forget Maurice. The Hardy family inherits a relative's house and moves to Ottawa, on the same block as the Dove family home. What occurs between then teenaged Norma Joyce (who will likely invite comparisons to Rhoda Penmark of The Bad Seed) and the war-damaged Maurice brings to light a childhood betrayal significant enough to devastate everyone involved. Moving seamlessly through 30 years in Saskatchewan, Ottawa and New York City, Hay's novel offers up just the right combination of melodrama and melancholy. Already a best seller in Canada, it should soar this side of the border, too.

Two young Saskatchewan sisters, Lucinda and Norma Joyce Hardy, immediately fall in love with Maurice Dove, the charming weather observer sent from Ottawa who visits their family farm during a 1938 storm. That meeting changes the sisters' lives forever--introducing jealousy, romantic rivalry, and an unexpected pregnancy. Jennifer Overton brings a delicate touch to the portraits of the two sisters, making every thought and action into something essential to the story of their lives. This character study, built on broken dreams, loss, and sadness, captures the Hardy sisters and their elusive love in a well-crafted, often challenging drama. The novel was shortlisted for the Giller Prize, and this audio production was broadcast on CBC Radio. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine