Swamp Angel by Ethel Wilson ~ 1954. This edition: McClelland and Stewart, 1990. Afterword by Georger Bowering. Paperback. ISBN: 0-7710-8958-9. 216 pages.
Maggie walks away from her deplorable second marriage, and goes to earth at a remote fishing lodge northeast of Kamloops.
Nell, with the help of a small pearl-handled revolver, puts Maggie’s abusive husband absolutely in his place.
Hilda, Nell’s daughter, watches from the sidelines, taking it all in, storing it all up.
And Vera, reluctant resident at the fish camp, sees Maggie both as a saviour and as a very personal devil.
Intrigued? Good.
Find it. Read it. The book is probably Ethel Wilson’s most well-known; copies from its multiple printings are easy as pie to come by, at least in every used book shop I’ve been in here in the writer’s home province.
Grand stuff from the brilliant and not nearly prolific enough British Columbian writer Ethel Wilson. What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this gem of a small novel, this delicate and complex story of suffering and personal redemption? (A quick online search brings an embarrassment of riches in the way of scholarly discussion.)
Maggie Lloyd, our main character in that the story follows her most intimately, is a woman of uncompromising integrity, and though that may sound dull, it’s not, not at all. Her moral sense drives her actions, her intelligence makes those actions generally successful, and her wry sense of humour – well-tamped down for understandable reasons (Maggie’s had more than her share of personal tragedy) but still active – keeps her likeable.
Maggie rescues herself from an unbearable situation, and proceeds to remake her life as a solo operator, making this something of a feminist manifesto. But while most of Swamp Angel’s main characters are women, the men in Ethel Wilson’s cast are memorable, too, whether swinish or heroic or stoic or just plain decent.
Wilson paints her word pictures with brushes both broad and finely delicate; her pacing might well be described as variable (uneven sounds like a critique, so I won’t use that term, though it is also apt); her frequent descriptive passages sometimes stray into sentiment; but mostly it all clicks.
As a native British Columbian, I found an extra piquancy in the place descriptions, which Ethel Wilson made something of a specialty of, portraying mood as much as scenery. Very much about genius loci, as I touched on in my recent post on Hetty Dorval. Not sure if these passages will appeal quite so strongly to those not from here, but I am deeply appreciative of this element in her work.
A good strong 9/10.
I’m so glad you’re reading and writing about Ethel Wilson. She is a favourite of mine. Almost no other woman noticed the landscape as acutely as she did, with that loving intimate gaze. When I drive along the Similkameen, I often wonder where it was the bus left Maggie off. Around Coral’s Cabins? Where she immediately began to fish. Where she immediately knew she’d done the right thing.
I haven’t read everything by Ethel Wilson yet. Doling things out, as it were. So far all are winners. I did read this one a year or so ago, and I loved it. The re-read was even better. That opening sequence…the trip up the Canyon…
Interesting that I too have wondered where exactly Maggie got off the bus on her side trip up the Similkameen, and yes, I too pictured it somewhere around Coral’s Cabins. The description seems to fit, of the river and the forest along that stretch.Though there were very likely other tourist camps in the area, it was kind of a thing in that era, wasn’t it? Remember how many places there were right up through the Fraser Canyon? Many gone now, little piles of mossy logs. Or bulldozed…
Aha! a book I’ve read before you, and I really enjoyed it as well. From reading your blog I realize we don’t share your enthusiasm for certain genres, but then I don’t read near as much as you. Bravo, and I’ll keep watch for what you’re reading next.
I’m not into anything too “heavy” this past year or two or three. Can’t seem to concentrate, you know how it is sometimes. Brain too full of other stuff.
Keep an eye out for the other Ethel Wilson novels – or maybe you have them? – The Innocent Traveller, Hetty Dorval, The Equations of Love, Love and Salt Water. Or talk to me – I may be able to send something your way… 🙂 … I do have 2nd copies of a few of these. Just need to locate them. The usual jumble on the bookshelves!
I keep waiting for that miraculous moment when I’m all “caught up” to do some book sorting – didn’t happen last winter, and it’s not looking good for this winter either. Keeping heat in one of the greenhouses, so I’m in there carpentering and painting away on bits and pieces for this ever-so-slowly evolving house. This weather is something of a gift. Ed and I are thinking we’ll be able to finish putting up the new wood siding we’ve been pegging away at all summer-fall. Keep running out of daylight, but another decent day should do it. We’re that close. Well, there will still be some trim to put up next year. But the walls are all covered but for the last high up gable end. Soon therell be no more plywood to be seen, feels lovely, ticking that job off the list. Then it’s back inside, hoping to get a new bathroom in this winter. We shall see. I’m sure other things more urgent will keep rearing up. 🙂
We are going to be replacing all our river-side windows next summer, they’re getting tired and a bit foggy inside as the seals are deteriorating. So we’re really only 3/4 done the siding, as that side is waiting. But it’s the “easy side”. Relatively speaking. (As I’m up my ladder I think often about *your* house – and must say though I envy you all your levels and that amazing view, I’m quietly happy to be working on a single story house on flat ground!)
Hope all is well over on your side. Sending you a virtual wave, and warm thoughts.
I would love any extras you have, I am in a slump right now as I can’t find any authors I like, I may go back to classics! Seeing as it is the season to read, although there are many indoor projects as well. Richard Wagamese book “Medicine Walk” is set in the Kamloops area but also Ft St James area and the two don’t seem to mix geographically, BUT the writing and story are so good you can set that aside. Of course not a problem for anyone not familiar with the area.
We are puttering away here, cleaning up messes of long ago, and yes, taking advantage of the weather. I long for a good snowy winter, but will take what is delivered.
I’d love to pop over one day for tea.
A tea visit sounds marvelous. I am assembling you a little stack of things. Have decided to dust and organize bookshelves (in lieu of more important things, of course) so have found a few things you might find tempting. The at-home schedule is a bit erratic this week; will give you a call. 🙂
I bought this in Canada, with the very dustjacket pictured – I must make sure to read it during A Century of Books, and remember my trip (albeit to a different part of Canada) fondly 🙂
Oh, I do hope you will enjoy it! I suspect you will; the starting scenario is wonderfully compelling, and everything else follows along. The “regional” appeal is a bonus; I don’t think it matters if you “know” the scenery; the story transcends its location, though the places are important to the whole. I mean, you don’t need to have experienced them personally, you can imagine them from their descriptions.