The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay: Fiction by Beverly Jensen

Jan 17, 2011 Misfit added it · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-vine, get-it-from-the-library

Clearly I'm in the minority here as I just did not *get* this book. The "Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay" are Idella and Avis Hillock. The Hillocks eke out a rough life in Bay Chaleur, New Brunswick. Their mother dies during childbirth and they end up being raised by their father, who most definitely does not win the prize for father of the year. Their story begins in 1916 and finishes in 1986 - although this is more a series of vignettes as the sisters reflect back on their lives and loves, both...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Ilona rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, fiction-general

A series of short stories outlines the lives of Idella and Avis Hillock, sisters from the poor fishing and farming community of Bay Chaleur, New Brunswick. From the very compelling first story, "Gone", which details the loss of their mother, through their youth with their grief-stricken and angry father, through their adult lives and eventual deaths, we dip into the sisters' lives at critical moments. Each story gives new insight into how they perceive themselves, and how their relationship grou...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Teena in Toronto rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

It's not a cheerful happy story. The first chapter starts in 1916 in rural New Brunswick with Idella and Avis' mom dying giving birth to Emma. The story then takes off, dealing with how Idella, Avis, their dad and brother deal with their much loved mother's death. The family is very poor and it's a struggle to survive.

The book follows Idella (primarily) and Avis as they become adults, move away, marry and have children of their own while still be...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Jennifer (JC-S) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: librarybooks

‘Seemed like we lose so many things. It all gets taken ways, fades away.’

Idella and Avis Hillock are the sisters from Hardscrabble Bay, and this book is a collection of six vignettes from their lives from 1916 until July 1987. Hardscrabble Bay is a chilly bluff in New Brunswick, Canada: potato farms and lobster traps; isolated natural beauty and hard work.

Three of the stories stand out for me: ‘Gone’ which opens the book with the tragedy of their mother’s death in childbirth and the events immed...more

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Nov 15, 2010 Gina rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a story about 2 sisters and their family who live on a farm trying to live their lives as best they can under difficult circumstances.

I found a quote from this book that I liked…

“She guessed eyes don’t lose their color. Seemed like we lose so many things. It all gets taken away, fades away. She was surprised eyes keep hold of their color.”

On the back jacket cover, I find it interesting that Stephen King praised this book. Kudos to you Stephen King for enjoying this book. One of the comm...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is very sad that this author, Beverly Jensen, died in 2003 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 49 before this book was ever published. Thanks to the dedication of her writing friends and her husband, Jay Silverman, Beverly's work can now be enjoyed around the world.

From dust jacket:

"In 1916, Idella and Avis Hillock live on the edge of a chilly bluff in New Brunswick, Canada-a hardscrabble world of potato farms and lobster traps, rough men, hard work, and baffling beauty. From "Gone", the hea...more

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Oct 10, 2010 Nicola rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reason for Reading: The early 1900s time frame and the New Brunswick setting appealed to me right away.

This book was brought to publication by Beverly Jensen's family after her death in 2003. The book consists of interconnected short stories which tell the tale of two sisters who grew up in New Brunswick, poor, on a farm where their alcoholic father raised them on his own. A couple of the stories had been previously published.

From the beginning chapter (ie. story) I was taken into this book and...more Reason for Reading: The early 1900s time frame and the New Brunswick setting appealed to me right away.

This book was brought to publication by Beverly Jensen's family after her death in 2003. The book consists of interconnected short stories which tell the tale of two sisters who grew up in New Brunswick, poor, on a farm where their alcoholic father raised them on his own. A couple of the stories had been previously published.

From the beginning chapter (ie. story) I was taken into this book and immersed into the lives of the Hillock family, not to come back to the reality of my own family until I had finished. Even when I was not reading, I was thinking about the characters. These stories are completely character driven and the readers becomes intimately familiar with the major players. The book is divided into Parts and starts off in 1916 with the mother dying in the childbirth of the 3rd daughter, 4th child. This utterly destroys the dynamics of the family as it was the mother who connected her family together with maternal and womanly love. The father is devastated at the loss of the only one he has ever loved who has ever made him gentle, and being a hard man to begin with, eking out a living from an unforgiving land and the dangerous sea he has always taken his down time with a bottle. This leaves him incapable of raising three children, nor of being able to show them love or compassion, though it is there. This part of the book grabs your heart and makes for compelling reading. Each story is set a few years ahead of the previous one as the children grow to mid/late teens.

For the rest of the book the story concentrates on Della the oldest sister, the more responsible of the two, and continues to tell her life story up till 1987. The book mostly is told in the third person but occasionally is told from the first person point of view of individual characters. Avis, the younger sister, who has her father's love of drink and is a beauty who lives vicariously with many men, is not explored as much but she does turn up and we continue to learn of her life. The stories now are spaced further apart often going ten year jumps as we follow this family drama. The bond between the sisters is always strong even when they are not getting along with each other and the deep feeling they have for each other shows up in many ways.

I loved this book! The stories mesh together well creating an episodic story telling format and I enjoyed the occasional first hand account from a character's point of view. This is not a happy story. The girls lead hard lives. There is emotional abuse, infedelity, prison, alcoholism, drunkeness, eking out a living, yearning to *be* somebody, the decline into infirmity and death. Yet through it all there are moments of true love from places you would least expect it and there are times that these moments are bittersweet. The only thing I was bothered by was that the brother, Dalton, hardly made any appearances once they had grown and I think his character would have been interesting to watch as well. Though I suppose that can be forgiven since the title does say "Sisters".

An interesting note, as I was reading the chapter near the end entitled "Wake" I got that deja vu feeling that I had read something entirely similar to this before, in fact that I had read it before which was baffling. So I turned to the copyright page and sure enough "Wake" had been previously published in The Best American Short Stories 2007 edition which I had read that year!

I recommend the book to those who enjoy family sagas and don't mind a story told in an episodic manner.(less)

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Sep 22, 2010 Trishnyc rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sisters Idella and Avis start off this book with the death of their mother in child birth. This early tragedy, with a story spanning from 1916 to 1987, marks the beginning of a very hard existence for these sisters and their older brother Dalton.

With the death of their mother and her accompanying steadying hand on their father, Bill, the sisters are forced to virtually raise themselves. Their father drinks himself to sleep every night, mourning the wife that he loved dearly while at a loss as to...more Sisters Idella and Avis start off this book with the death of their mother in child birth. This early tragedy, with a story spanning from 1916 to 1987, marks the beginning of a very hard existence for these sisters and their older brother Dalton.

With the death of their mother and her accompanying steadying hand on their father, Bill, the sisters are forced to virtually raise themselves. Their father drinks himself to sleep every night, mourning the wife that he loved dearly while at a loss as to how to care for his remaining family which now includes an new born infant. Meanwhile, his children are left floundering, trying to figure out life and eek out a day to day survival. While I did not dislike him as a character, he was after all a victim of certain circumstances beyond his control, I had very little respect for him as he was a selfish man who let his grief overshadow his responsibility to his children.

The first half of this story was beautifully written and the author was expert at creating vivid images in the reader's mind that gave a perfect glimpse into the lives of poor people at this time in history. The descriptions of the landscape, the cold, its brutality and barrenness, almost make the land one of the characters. And it is this hard, unforgiving place that shapes these sisters present and future. Even if their mother had lived, Idella, Avis and Dalton would still have had less than an easy life as resources were scarce and expensive. But with her death, life is made considerably harder for her children because in addition to the paucity of basic amenities, they lack love and happiness. Eventually the sisters are sent to live with an aunt and for the first time since their mother's death they have loving parental influences. But their father's hunting accident finds them back home to care for him and ends three years of happiness, education and a life free of despondency.

Unfortunately, about a 150 pages in, the quality of the book seemed to take a dip. It's hard for me to fully articulate what it is but somehow when parts of the story slipped into first person narrative, I felt like I was almost reading a different story. The story felt more compelling when being told by an external voice and it lost a certain something when some of the individual players began to narrate their own lives. Also as the story progressed it seemed to lack a bit of direction and devolved into a tale that just related the daily lives of the sisters as they navigated life. This made for a slow read from this point almost to the end. Regardless of this, I still enjoyed this movingly sad tale of life in America/Canada a the turn of the century. The characters were richly developed and made for a very interesting study of families and their complexities.

This book is sad and presents life in stark and painfully honest terms. There are no heroes here, everyone just seems to be trying to make of life what they can. The sisters lives are grueling but unflinching. They fall along the way with alcohol addiction, choosing the wrong men, bad decisions, etc but whatever happens, they try to come out on top and with some dignity.

*Review copy received from Amazon.com's Vine Program.(less)

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Aug 25, 2010 Vikki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really, this is a six star book. It is excellent. It is mainly the story of two sisters whose mother died giving birth to their little sisters. The girls have a hard life. It is told in such an interesting, funny way. I hate it that I finished the book and I must leave these characters.
I do not like to know anything about a book before I read it. I do not read reviews of books I am going to read. I do not even read the blurb on a book. I was nearly finished with the book and decided to read a...more

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Jul 05, 2010 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay, is a poignant novel which spans a period of some 70 years. Beginning in 1916, the story follows the lives of two sisters Idella and Avis Hillock, who live on a seaside bluff in New Brunswick Canada. When the novel begins, they are just young girls whose lives are forever changed when their mother dies after giving birth to their sister Emma. The girls also have an older brother Dalton, but the essential focus of the novel is on Avis and Della.

After their mother...more
The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay, is a poignant novel which spans a period of some 70 years. Beginning in 1916, the story follows the lives of two sisters Idella and Avis Hillock, who live on a seaside bluff in New Brunswick Canada. When the novel begins, they are just young girls whose lives are forever changed when their mother dies after giving birth to their sister Emma. The girls also have an older brother Dalton, but the essential focus of the novel is on Avis and Della.

After their mother dies, their father brings in a young French girl in to care for the children, but when that doesn't work out, he sends the older girls to live with relatives in Maine. It isn't long before the girls are back home (1921), to care for their father when he is seriously injured. Once they are back home, it is Della takes on the majority of the responsibility around the house. She resents the fact that her sister Avis is out having fun, while she is stuck at home.

As the girls become women they move from Canada to Maine, where Della gets work as a maid. She later marries Edward Jensen and inherits his difficult mother as well. Avis goes from one relationship to another, and never really settles down. In 1966 the children reunite to plan their father's funeral in a fashion that would have made their father smile.

There were several things that I liked about this novel, especially the way that it was more like a series of stories that followed the life of these two sisters from childhood to old age. The characters were memorable, and sense of place vivid, but what really made this novel memorable was the way The Sisters of Hardscrabble Bay came about.

Like my mother and my brother, the author Beverly Jensen died of pancreatic cancer; she in 2003. She was only 49 when she passed away, leaving behind her husband and two children. The author spent years writing this novel, chronicling the lives of her relatives within these stories. What a lovely lasting tribute to her short life. You can read more about the author's life, her family, and how her novel came to be published after her death HERE. (less)

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Oct 12, 2011 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first heard about this book when Richard Russo (my literary crush!) wrote a glowing review in The New York Times. Oh! He was so right! This is a fabulous collection of "connected" stories that read very much like a novel with missing chapters. The stories are centered on sisters Idella and Avis and cover a seventy year period from 1916- 1987. Idella and Avis (and their older brother Dalton) lose their mother in childbirth in 1916. The surviving baby, Emma, is shipped off to live with relatives...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Any interested in the human condition

"Every now and then--maybe two or three times in a decade--a book comes along that's so good .....It will fill you up and make you feel alive!" I would add; "grateful for who you are and what you have experienced in your life as you grew, developed and finally began the decline into old age". This book gives the reader a truly heartfelt portrait of the Hillox family and the two little girls growning up under their father's care after the death of their mother in childbirth. The setting begins in...more

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Feb 09, 2013 (Lonestarlibrarian) Keddy Ann Outlaw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For the first half of this book, I was so completely immersed and interested in these characters, I thought for sure I would be giving it a five star review. But as the two motherless sisters, Idella and Avis Hillock of New Brunswick, grow up and move away from their native soil, I felt less enthralled. And then in the last few chapters (slight SPOLIER here), the author introduced a theme of incest that felt added on, and for me unecessary.

Idella marries for what she thinks is love, although he...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Peggy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book. The author passed away before any of her work was published and her husband and friends published her writings.

This is a book about Idella and Avis Hillock, who live it Hardscrapple Bay, New Brunswick. When the girls are 8 and 6 their mother dies in childbirth and they get sent to live with relatives after their father figures out that he can't raise the girls. When he gets shot in the leg, the girls return to take care of him. As sooon as they are old enought they leave and...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks-read

I started out REALLY loving this book. I just knew I was going to be awarding this champion with all five stars. But as I went along further, it became a little dry for me and my enthusiam fizzled.
What I loved about the writing was that it was so genuine, so realistic in every way. It was also FUNNY! I listened to this on my ipod & I was practically rolling a few times! I think as the sisters got older the stories became more serious. So, I suppose the humor began to wane, as it would with...more

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Jul 26, 2010 Sandra Olshaski rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay by Beverly Jensen (Rated: P throughout)
Viking Canada
ISBN: 0670021660
Published July 2010
Hardcover, 320 pages

Reviewed by Sandra
The title of this book intrigued me – is Hardscrabble Bay the name of a place? As I began the novel I learned that the story takes place in Bay Chaleur, New Brunswick in 1916. Hardscrabble is a state of being. Webster’s Dictionary disclosed that the word “hardscrabble” was first used in 1804 to mean getting a meager living from poor soil....more The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay by Beverly Jensen (Rated: P throughout)
Viking Canada
ISBN: 0670021660
Published July 2010
Hardcover, 320 pages

Reviewed by Sandra
The title of this book intrigued me – is Hardscrabble Bay the name of a place? As I began the novel I learned that the story takes place in Bay Chaleur, New Brunswick in 1916. Hardscrabble is a state of being. Webster’s Dictionary disclosed that the word “hardscrabble” was first used in 1804 to mean getting a meager living from poor soil. As “Wild Bill” Hillock, one of the main characters says in reference to his surroundings, “it was a hardscrabble land and a hardscrabble bay – not easy to get a living out of.”
The story is about two sisters, Idella and Avis Hillock whose childhood is filled with adventures on their “hardscrabble” farm. However, life changes for them suddenly one day when their mother dies at home in childbirth. The first chapter of the novel movingly describes the events of that day. Their father never fully recovers from the death of his wife. He has no idea how to raise two girls. I felt sad for them as they were moving into adolescence for they had no one to clue them into the proverbial “facts of life”. In the words of Avis “we none of us got too good an introduction to things of that nature. No one told us a damned thing. We had no mother. We used to lie there in the bed, me and Idella, and try to put the pieces together.” The novel is a tale of their lives from then on into old age—for Idella, a fairly normal life, despite a philandering husband; for Avis, a series of unsuitable men, who fail to dampen her zest for life. The story spans about 70 years.
The book is full of wonderful descriptions. For example, Avis and Idella as children throw their shoes on a tree branch. When the shoes are retrieved, “they found their cast-off shoes, dangling like drunken crows from their laces…” The author’s description of the clothes their mother wore, her hair, her feelings, her scent, is very convincing. There is good character development of the main players. Bill, the father, also known as “Wild Bill”, is a hard-drinking, tough-talking man, filled with anger following his wife’s death. The reader feels that anger reflected in his daily life. This has a very direct influence on Avis and Idella. They can’t wait to leave the farm and their Dad. However, drinking and swearing become part of their lives.
There is swearing and irreverent language on practically every page, as well as a sexual scene between Idella’s philandering husband and his mistress that potential readers should be aware of.
This is a novel that is poignant, funny, wry, moving. It is a story of survival despite humble beginnings. It is also the story of the close ties that bind families.

(less)

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Apr 03, 2013 Tammy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction

This story of two sisters growing up in the harsh environment of a Canadian fishing/farming town started out well. You meet Idella and Avis in 1916 as children surrounded by their close knit fishing community, mom, dad and an older mother. Their older brother is always distant and prefers being out on the boat to helping around the farm and dad's mood depends on how much he's been drinking leaving mom to be the center of their world. Shortly into the book she dies in childbirth and now young Ide...more This story of two sisters growing up in the harsh environment of a Canadian fishing/farming town started out well. You meet Idella and Avis in 1916 as children surrounded by their close knit fishing community, mom, dad and an older mother. Their older brother is always distant and prefers being out on the boat to helping around the farm and dad's mood depends on how much he's been drinking leaving mom to be the center of their world. Shortly into the book she dies in childbirth and now young Idella must step-up and take over the household duties and raising her caring but wild younger sister. After several missteps with hiring girls in their teens to help raise the girls and take care of the household chores dad sends the girls off to live with their aunt and uncle on a farm in Maine. Both girls love going to school and are amazed at how deep dark and rich the earth of their aunt's farm is compared to the dust brown, dry, rocky dirt of home.

But then their dad is injured in a hunting accident and the girls must return home to take care of him and "the place." Their brother leaves the house as soon as the girls arrive, not able to stand their father's moods any longer. Still by this time I was invested in the characters and wanted to see how Idella and Avis managed.

Then it felt like the author didn't know how to continue the story and decides to jump ahead to when the girls are adults and living in America. Idella and Avis continue to make one poor decision after another especially with men. Then the book switches into each character telling their memories of life as an adult and Idella's children and husband sharing memories of what it was like to live with her.

I discovered after reading the book that it is a compilation of short stories about the same family written by the author who died unpublished at the age of 49. This explains so much! The first part of the book was published as "Gone" and the chapters dealing with Idella and Avis returning home to bury their father was published as "Wake." The beginning was the best part of the book I thought and I wonder what the author could have acomplished if she'd live to weave all her stories into one cohesive novel.(less)

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Apr 12, 2011 Shana Duval rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, books-i-d-recommend-to-others

Idella and Avis Hillock are the sisters from Hardscrabble Bay. As the title might suggest, Life certainly does not feed them with a silver spoon. In the land of potatoes and lobsters, the girls realize there is no chance of a good life with their father's drinking and angry attitude that seems to coincide with the harsh climate.

As the book moves along, it feels more like a collection of mini stories. You get to see every part of the sister's lives and the interesting characters that come and go...more

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Aug 13, 2010 Chrissy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction, short-stories

This book tells the story of two sisters in a series of short stories, spanning from the ages of 6 or so until their late 70's. Idella and Avis have not had easy lives, having grown up poor and uneducated on the coast of New Brunswick with an alcoholic father. Their lives are not exceptional - they fight, they love, they move away from home, then back again, and then away. There are families and children, divorce and affairs, jail time and death, but through it all there are two sisters, Idella...more

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May 26, 2011 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads

In the early 1900’s Idella and Avis Hillock live on a bluff on the coast of New Brunswick. It’s a “hardscrabble” life of potato farming and lobster trapping. Despite the harshness of life they have a loving family so life is good. Until their mother dies in childbirth.

Spanning 70 years, this book is written in vignettes featuring one or more of the Hillock family members. These vignettes take turns being heart-wrenching, heart-warming, outright funny and darkly humorous.

An interesting note: alth...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Carole rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

BLEAK. That is what I get for checking out a book that has a glowing blurb from Stephen King (oh how I dislike him). And discovering when I finished it that the author died before it was published-- MORE BLEAK.

Jensen had a knack for creating the times and places represented in her novel, and paints a pretty vivid picture of Idella and Avis. I'm in partial agreement with those reviewers who said there was no one to root for. Ultimately I felt like I need to see their story through until the end....more

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Oct 02, 2012 Vicky Norton rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Okay I didn’t know this was a series of short stories when I started it. And I’m very sorry the lady died so young and this was her only work. And as a short story writer she was really good, I think; each story is self-contained and I loved the way she wrote, her dialogue etc. Even with all the swearing it was very believable. She had to have grown up like this, you think.

BUT they shouldn’t have shoved them all together like this. I know it doesn’t say novel on the cover but that’s your underst...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 04, 2011 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a beautifully written book … but it is really a series of vignettes from the life a woman. The title is the “Sisters” but only one of the sisters story is really told. The book is very disjointed and jumps around. Many story lines are not completed. One example, the book opens with the mother having an intense argument with her husband – she abruptly goes into labor and dies in childbirth. They never examine the argument that the mother and father were having although the father morns th...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Dianne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting book, published posthumously. The early section is a traditional presentation, linear, presenting the main characters, two young sisters, a brother, mom and dad, in a fishing village in New Brunswick in 1916. Mom is pregnant and dies during childbirth. As the family deals with her loss, the rifts and alliances in the family are clearly drawn. The succeeding sections are little vignettes about the individual family members, dipping into their lives over the years until the death of th...more

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Nov 12, 2011 Suzanne Moore rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sisters

The Sisters From Hardscrabble Bay takes the reader through the lives of Idella and Avis with a series of short stories. The stories begin in 1916 when their mother dies while giving birth to a little sister. They are raised by an alcoholic father, who enlists the help of several maids and an aunt. Their adventures become singular as they mature into adults and the reader follows them through events of the next 70 years.
In several scenes I was actually “talking” to Idella in my head … trying to...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Kris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, literary-fiction

3.5 STARS

Idella and Avis Hollick watch their beautiful mother, Emmaline give birth and shortly die leaving them with their loner brother and alcoholic father. Baby Emma is shipped off to one of Emmaline's sisters. The two girls have a moment of happiness with the French girl who is take care of their home and them. When a night goes wrong in the Hillock household...the girls are shipped to an aunt's home where they finally get an education and family. After their father is shot they are brought...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Sandi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This novel is written like a series of short stories spanning 70 years in the lives of the Hillock family of New Brunswick, Canada. The chapter "The Wake" was published in the New England Review, chosen for The Best American Short Stories, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Read chronologically, the chapters form a cohesive picture of this family's struggles from a hardscrabble fishing livelihood to the four children's later lives and the death of their father. The author defined the sisters Ide...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Lizmontgomeryheinz rated it 3 of 5 stars

There's not a false note in the stories in this book. The main characters are sisters with lives that will seem not only unfamiliar but somewhat far fetched to many of us, lives that span decades of the last century and take place in the parts of Maine that entwine with Canada, geography known to few. The only reason I gave the book only three stars is that the lives of these women are pretty bleak. Nevertheless, I stuck it out because I wanted to know how the two little girls whose lives you fo...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Nlimprecht rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The characters are all wonderfully realized and the dialogue and characteristics ring very true. A lot of the parents' characteristics show up in the children--both for good and bad.

The book probably could have stood a couple more revisions but it is such a wonderful read--imagining as it does life from childhood to old age and all its visissitudes--that it had to have had its genesis in the author's family history. Imagine yourself listening to stories of a bunch of not wholely reliable relativ...more

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