Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Alone in the Classroom

3.21 of 5 stars 3.21 · rating details · 1,038 ratings · 198 reviews

In a small prairie school in 1929, Connie Flood helps a backward student, Michael Graves, learn how to read. Observing them and darkening their lives is the principal, Parley Burns, whose strange behaviour culminates in an attack so disturbing its repercussions continue to the present day.

Connie’s niece, Anne, tells the story. Impelled by curiosity about her dynamic, adven...more

Hardcover, 320 pages

Published April 26th 2011 by McClelland & Stewart

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

2011 CanLit releases

3rd out of 9 books — 9 voters

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Books Zoe Wants To Read Before 2011 Is Over

33rd out of 82 books — 16 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,940)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 30, 2012 Juliet rated it 4 of 5 stars

This beautifully written novel, set in Saskatchewan and the Ottawa Valley, focuses on a young schoolteacher, Connie Flood, a backward student, Michael, whom she tries to help, and Parley Burns, the principal, who casts a dark shadow over all who come under his influence. The story begins with a murder, and unfolds both in the present, with the adult Anne trying to make sense of her aunt's story, and in the past, in the early days of Connie's tenure at the small rural school.

It's not a novel for...more

like 1 like · see review

Jun 16, 2012 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Set in the nineteen forties, Alone In The Classroom uses the sexual assault upon a pupil in a small town in Canada as the starting point for a series of meditations on family relationships and the nature of memory. In different ways each of the characters is caught up in the eddies created by past events. They all struggle to come to terms with the legacy of their childhoods and to create their own identities within the limited space allowed them.

It's beautifully written with a confident and ac...more

like 1 like · see review

Jun 14, 2012 Louise rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

McClelland & Stewart|April 10, 2012|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-7710-3797-9

Story Description:

Elizabeth Hay’s highly acclaimed, national bestseller now in a deluxe paperback edition.

Hay’s runaway bestseller novel crosses generations and cuts to the bone of universal truth about love and our relationship with the past. In 1930, a school principal in Saskatchewan is suspected of abusing a student. Seven years later on the other side of the country, a girl picking wild cherries meets a violent e...more

like 2 likes · see review

May 03, 2012 Paleyellowstar rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Paleyellowstar by: Holly

It is rare that I am as frustrated by a novel as I was with this one. Hay chooses Connie's niece Anne as the narrator and her view of things is inaccurate and unsatisfying to say the least. I wanted to know more about Connie, Michael and Syd because I really liked them. I also wanted to find out if Parley had raped Susan and killed Ethel. I wondered how Anne, a third party, could possibly know things like the scene between Parley and Susan Graves.

Everything just seemed muddled. The timeline and...more

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 06, 2012 Doreen rated it 4 of 5 stars

The plot involves a schoolgirl murdered in the Upper Ottawa Valley during the 1940s, another one who died in a fire in Saskatchewan years earlier, the creepy, sadistic principal linked to both girls, and the teacher who brings these stories together and tells them to her niece Annie, the narrator.

At times the structure is confusing since the narrative meanders back and forth in both time and place. This structure, however, suggests the process of learning, a slow discovery of truths as we progr...more

like · see review

Feb 28, 2012 Bonnie Brody rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Nothing would give up life:
Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath."

For it is in the verdant, succulent, jungle of memories and hopes that this book establishes itself, absorbing the reader in its tale of Eriksonian generativity. It is also a visual feast, akin to finding oneself in a world of post-impressionist painting, cavorting with the likes of Van Gogh, Cezanne and Monet. Hay's writing is visual, psychological and metaphorical. Her words sing and as she says in the book, "It's possibl...more "Nothing would give up life:
Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath."

For it is in the verdant, succulent, jungle of memories and hopes that this book establishes itself, absorbing the reader in its tale of Eriksonian generativity. It is also a visual feast, akin to finding oneself in a world of post-impressionist painting, cavorting with the likes of Van Gogh, Cezanne and Monet. Hay's writing is visual, psychological and metaphorical. Her words sing and as she says in the book, "It's possible that a hidden symmetry is often at work as we stumble our way through life" and "we carry the past forward even when things and people are obliterated".

The story, on the surface, is about a woman named Anne who wants to understand her family and background. She is fascinated by her aunt Connie's life and she paints Connie's history. At eighteen years old, Connie was a teacher in Canada, a place that echoes the existence of the sub-arctic: blueberries, choke cherries, snow, blizzards, rocky terrain and tundra. It is impossible to speak of this story without including the landscape, an intrinsic part of what Hay writes about. "The whole landscape was a painting come to life."

Connie teaches middle school in a town called Jewel in Saskatchewan. Her principal is a man by the name of Parley Burns. "He smiled (when he smiled ) by baring his teeth, then holding the grimace to a count of five." "Parley moved through the school like mustard gas in subtle form. You were aware afterwards that you'd been poisoned." He is painted as a repellant character with a simultaneously sleezy aura of attractiveness. He is a sadist to the children and has a deep and unrequited love for Connie who finds him despicable and repellant.

As the book opens, a young woman is found murdered while picking choke cherries. A trial is held and a young man is first found guilty and then acquitted by a higher court for lack of sufficient evidence. Connie often wonders if Parley is the one who murdered her. He certainly has the personality that would make a reader wonder.

Another tragedy, unrelated to the first one, takes place and Parley is involved at the heart of its occurrence. His way with the girls in school is creepy. It is as if he has a pedophilic streak somewhere though this is nowhere overtly mentioned.

He arranges for the whole school to do a performance of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and has a high school student, Susan Graves, play the part. He makes much of the shame that Tess felt because of her `deflowering' and pregnancy. He directs Susan to act in an erotic manner though she is just fourteen. He frightens her into her role by terrorizing her beloved dog. Meanwhile, Connie takes a young man named Michael under her wing. In 1927, when the story opens, no one knows about dyslexia. This is what Michael suffers from and Connie is determined to help him learn to read and write with kindness and love. He is made to feel stupid and worthless by Parley and dreads the classroom where he is alone in his inability to learn. However, he is a master sculptor and carver and loves the outdoors. He is quick with words and uses them well. Connie and he form a deep and lasting rapport and love.

We also learn about Connie's loves, hopes and desires over her 84 years as the book takes us to 2007. Her life is an adventurous one, full to the brim, and comprises the first two thirds of this book. The last third is about Annie, the original narrator who is searching for her own present in her family's past. It is this last third of the book that is a bit of a let-down. It feels divorced from the first part and though it is interesting, it does not add to the cohesiveness of the book. If anything, it detracts from it.

The book is delicious. Each page holds descriptions one does not ever want to forget. Hay is a magician with words and this book is a synergy of her creativity. As she says so eloquently, "the facts don't matter; everything you learn blurs and merges and contributes to a way of seeing the world". Annie says, "I see history passing me by. I am standing on the sidelines and it is whirling past, and the people who come after me will see it one way and it won't be my way." I think the same can be said of this book. Everyone who reads it will see and feel it differently. There is so much here. It is like a rain forest of words and ideas, a different story for every reader, a beauty to be shared and talked about with your dearest friends who, hopefully, will also get to read this book.
(less)

like 1 like · see review

Dec 08, 2011 Mary Lou rated it 3 of 5 stars

A meandering read - found myself wishing on occasion that the author had not chosen to tell the tale quite so “slant”, either that or provided me with a geneology for a couple of the families involved. However, hindsight illuminates the idea that the reader is learning family history as the writer/narrator learns. Parley Burns, the school principal/frustrated writer, is a chilling character who will stay with me for quite a while - the sort of creature who should never be allowed in a classroom....more

like · see review

Nov 29, 2011 Chuck Erion rated it 4 of 5 stars

Alone in the Classroom weaves several lifetimes together. Parley is the nickname of the dramatic principal who also taught French (Parlez-vous). As the story opens, Connie, the narrator’s aunt, is a reporter for the Ottawa Journal, sent to cover the funeral of a schoolgirl who was raped and murdered while picking chokecherries. She realizes that Parley, the principal that she worked with in Saskatchewan a decade before has relocated to the Ottawa Valley. Did he have a role, nefarious or not, in...more

like · see review

Oct 22, 2011 Ruth Seeley rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a tough book to review. I'm torn by the fact that Hay is a marvellous, compelling, powerful writer, but seems to have struggled with the focus of this novel rather unsuccessfully and inconclusively. Who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? You could make a case for at least two characters for each of these roles. The protagonist might be the narrator Anne - or it could be her aunt Connie. The antagonist could be the high school principal whose actions lead to at least one of his st...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 11, 2011 Sooz rated it 4 of 5 stars

i recently read Sarah's Key which seems hugely popular right now. i thought it contrived and a little patronizing. and ... one of my biggest complaints was how the author tied up every emotional thread into a big bow at the end. i'm sure it was suppose to be satisfying but i did not find it so. it did not ring true to me at all.

Alone in the Classroom .... well, it's a bit messier, and therefore seems far more honest ... AND ... far more true-to-life. it took me a while to get into it ... probabl...more

like 3 likes · see review

Jul 16, 2011 Aban (Aby) rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really liked "Student of Weather" and "Late Nights on Air" and was eager to read Hay's latest book. I was disappointed!

The story begins in 1929 when a very young Connie Flood starts teaching in rural Saskatchewan. She befriends a dyslexic boy, Michael, who idolizes her. Connie is confused and disconcerted by the behaviour of Parley Burns, the school principal, but finds support and guidance from Syd Goodwin, the school inspector. A tragedy occurs in the community and, soon after, Parley and Co...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jun 08, 2011 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, no-longer-own

Reason for Reading: I've been interested in reading this author for a while now and haven't got around to it yet. The early 1930's and the Saskatchewan setting pulled me into starting off with her latest book.

An excellent book! Though a hard one to describe. The plot has many layers and is meandering to the point where it is not exactly what drives the book. The book is most certainly character driven and the relationships between these characters are what propels the story along. The story cove...more Reason for Reading: I've been interested in reading this author for a while now and haven't got around to it yet. The early 1930's and the Saskatchewan setting pulled me into starting off with her latest book.

An excellent book! Though a hard one to describe. The plot has many layers and is meandering to the point where it is not exactly what drives the book. The book is most certainly character driven and the relationships between these characters are what propels the story along. The story covers the time period from 1929 to 2008 and focuses on one Connie Flood, a school teacher, journalist, traveler; a woman of independence who takes lovers as she wants them and lives life to its fullest according to her small needs though she has a large presence. The book is told from the point of view of Connie's niece, who is telling the story from the first person, looking back telling a tale of which she is omniscient from each individual character's thoughts and feelings. This pov was hard to get used to, I must admit. The narrator only appears in the beginnings of the story a few times and when the word "I" is used I found it confusing to remember that "I" was not Connie but the narrator, Anne. This becomes more clear a little over half way through the book when Anne actually becomes a character in the story but then the flipping from near past to far past with this continued point of view still felt unusual to me. Now, it's not that I was totally annoyed with the pov, it was just hard to remember who was telling the tale, and it did slow down my reading speed.

The characters and their relationships, mostly triangles, are what make this book such an enticing, intense read. First of all, the element that brings all the persons together and moves the plot along is the brutal, unrelated, deaths of two young girls some years apart. The same character's are around at these times and this is what sets Anne off into investigating her aunt's past, perhaps to solve an unsolved crime. I've discussed Connie and Anne, but also there are two men to round out the main characters. Parley Burns, school teacher, principal, refined, detached, strict, perhaps mentally unstable, who has feelings for Connie. Secondly Michael, an older student at the school, not much younger than Connie herself who is slow and ridiculed as such; he is what would have been called dyslexic in the future, but not mentally challenged at all, and Connie takes a shine to him in trying to teach him to read. In fact, they take a shine to each other. The triangles that shape the book are principal, teacher, student then later on husband, wife and lover, a chance meeting turns us to aunt, niece, lover and in the background there is even grandmother, mother, daughter to overcome in the end.

A wonderfully written book, I enjoyed tremendously with characters that will remain with me, especially Parley and Michael; but a slow-paced meandering read that will take your attention to appreciate fully. (less)

like · see review

Nov 15, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

This is a novel that crosses several time periods, told by Anne.
The earliest time is 1929, in a small town in Saskatchewan, where Connie Flood is a young teacher. The new principal, Parley Burns, unsettles many in the community. Connie finds his attentions unwelcome, while another teacher is drawn to him. Burns starts a dramatic club that puts on a play, and singles out a particular girl with tragic results. Connie takes a young man with a learning disability under her wing for special tutoring....more

like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Farah Ng rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

Elizabeth Hay’s Alone in the Classroom starts a bit slow. It’s like one of those foreign movies where you don’t know what’s happening for the first 20 minutes and then it goes on to win several Sundance Film awards.

The story focuses on an old schoolhouse where a woman named Connie is teaching in 1929. The principal is a creepy, shady fellow who has a thing for Connie and possibly an ill-fated (and underaged) student named Susan Graves. But after Susan’s mysterious death, the story centres on her...more

like · see review

Jun 12, 2011 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Writing about the interweaving of human relationships is not an easy task, even for the best of writers. But fortunately, Elizabeth Hay is among the best in writers. In fact, she may be one of the very finest writers at work in Canada today.

Rich in imaginings, masterfully conceived, flawlessly executed, Alone in the Classroom is a nuanced book, told by the present day perspective of Anne who is researching her family history.

It’s a book not easily defined – part murder mystery, part historical m...more Writing about the interweaving of human relationships is not an easy task, even for the best of writers. But fortunately, Elizabeth Hay is among the best in writers. In fact, she may be one of the very finest writers at work in Canada today.

Rich in imaginings, masterfully conceived, flawlessly executed, Alone in the Classroom is a nuanced book, told by the present day perspective of Anne who is researching her family history.

It’s a book not easily defined – part murder mystery, part historical memoir, part travelogue, part character study. The characters in question are Connie Flood, Anne’s free-spirited and adventurous aunt…Parley Burns, the school’s shadowy and enigmatic principal whose actions set in force a tragedy…and Michael Graves, a secretly intelligent student who is struggling with what now would be labeled dyslexia.

The triangle of these three – teacher, student, and principal – is no accident. Ms. Hay is no doubt aware of the symbolism of “three” in all major religions – the Trinity in the Christian faith, the male/female/uniting intelligence in the Kaballah, the Triple Gem in the Buddhist tradition and so on. The number three represents permanence, and so it is here.

“The first triangle in one’s life is always the father, mother and child,” Anne muses. “It sets the troubled tone.” And later, when she walks barefoot down paths swims towards loons, she recognizes that “they went at it beak to beak. Three birds, and one of them an intruder.”

These emotional triangles – and the intrusions of one person into an established pair – is a major sub-theme that plays out in all kinds of ways: mother, daughter, grandmother…aunt, niece, lover…husband, wife, love interest…father, son, sister…two dead girls and the potential murderer…and so on.

Elizabeth Hay masterfully establishes these triangles and then explores the outer boundaries of their realities. “I’m reminded of what Michael said about memory: the facts don’t matter; everything you learn blurs and merges and contributes to a way of seeing the world.”

Perceptions change as one reads on. Sympathetic characters become less sympathetic; obtuse characters become more understandable; connections become more tenuous, and the monsters among us become more nuanced. The author never takes the easy way out as she reveals how the past informs the present, and how the present influences the future.

We are all, Elizabeth Hay suggests, alone in the classroom, carrying forth the scars (figuratively and literally) from tender youth. “You don’t get over it, failure in elementary school,” says Michael, who grows up to be a Peter Pan character. And for the reader, you don’t get over the riveting and meticulously drawn prose, that permeates this entire book.

I would be remiss were I not to mention the glorious descriptions of the fictional Jewel, Saskatchewan. The ripening of the berries – raspberries (“the soft read fruit like gobbets of blood”), the blueberries (“abloom with ghostly light that erased itself in your fingers”), the jewelweed in blossom, the ripening tomatoes, the ruby-red chokeberries. As in her previous novels, the prose is at its richest in her descriptions of nature. This is a marvelous book, seductive, lingering, and, I suspect, unforgettable.

(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Carole Eyles rated it 2 of 5 stars

I found the story episodic and uneven. It starts with a murder that has nothing to do with any of the main characters, that is never resolved and adds nothing to the story. It feels manipulative, a come-on to get the reader to buy the book.

I had a hard time keeping track of who was speaking and in what time. I found the jumping around in time disconcerting and felt that the timeline did not ring true, e.g. in five years Connie has gone from being a teacher in Saskatchewan to being a freelance t...more

like · see review

Aug 13, 2011 Sheila rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was disappointed in this book. I found it confusing as it jumps around. The explanation of different characters, who they are and what they are thinking did not make sense in several parts of the book. I really don't know where the title comes from. The main character only taught for 2 years in a small town in Sask. Even toward the end, when her niece is visiting her, she has another visitor, a woman whom she taught years ago. Connie, the main character is now 72 and tells her neice, she is wo...more

like · see review

Oct 02, 2012 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadiana

I really enjoyed this book. For me an indication of a good read is a book that I look forward to picking up and continuing to delve into each day. As typical of this writer it meanders from past to present and from event to event. It starts with the murder of a young girl on the prairies in 1937. I love how this writer describes nature (chokecherries -the size of peas,almost black when ripe and almost edible when black)She uses this style in her other books as well- a deep understanding and love...more

like · see review

Aug 25, 2012 Melanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian-author

I really enjoyed this book. It was kind of summed up near the end (no spoilers) when the narrator says she started writing about Parley, which lead to Connie, which lead to Michael and the rest of the people she wrote about.

This book covers a whole variety of things, conquering ones fears, hopeless relationships, moving to new places and trying to fit in and what to do when terrible things happen. I had trouble at times, following who was related to who, but this didn't really interefere with th...more

like · see review

May 13, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel is quintessentially Canadian. Sparse prose interspersed with lyrical descriptions of Canadian landscapes and philisophical ruminations on character behaviour made me feel as though this novel belongs on the syllabus of a Comparative Canadian Literature course, perhaps listed immediately after THE DIVINERS.

Told from the point of view of Annie, the story recounts the early history of Annie's aunt Connie and how Connie's history ultimately converges with Annie's present. Connie's experie...more

like · see review

Oct 09, 2012 Laura Kerry rated it 1 of 5 stars

I almost tossed this book aside at the beginning since it was so hard to follow and rambled off confusedly in so many directions. I couldn’t believe an editor would allow this sort of confusion, especially so close to a book's opening pages. But I stuck with it, and did appreciate a lot of it. However, I was mainly sticking with it to find out the huge question of the unsolved murder at the book's opening. I assumed since the murder was the opening scene of the book, the author would return to i...more

like · see review

Jun 14, 2011 Luise rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm giving this 4 stars purely on the strength of Hay's writing which is superb throughout the book. The story starts out very promising and is quite gripping, but just when you really get into the characters' world the narrator janks you out of it and into her present which is a lot less appealing and the story fizzles out into a dog's breakfast of character vignettes and situations and never really gets back to the initial intensity. It probably deserves a second reading (now that I know what...more

like · see review

Oct 09, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Alone in the Classroom is a beautifully written book by Canadian author Elizabeth Hay. Although it isn’t a traditional crime novel, it does feature the death of two young girls and the attempt by a small community to come to terms with an act of violence. It’s a book that shows that descriptions of excessive violence are unnecessary when a writer has the talent to invoke fear and loss through the quality of their prose. I found it a very moving read.

In 1929, Connie Flood is a teacher in a small...more Alone in the Classroom is a beautifully written book by Canadian author Elizabeth Hay. Although it isn’t a traditional crime novel, it does feature the death of two young girls and the attempt by a small community to come to terms with an act of violence. It’s a book that shows that descriptions of excessive violence are unnecessary when a writer has the talent to invoke fear and loss through the quality of their prose. I found it a very moving read.

In 1929, Connie Flood is a teacher in a small village school and has an instinctive rapport with her students. One in particular, Michael Graves she helps overcome his difficulties in reading and writing. Head at the school is the disturbing Parley Burns, a frustrated actor whose attachment to certain young female students provokes suspicion. When a violent attack takes place against Michael’s sister, the family’s shame has devastating consequences.

Years later, Connie’s niece Anne learns about the incident at a family gathering and starts to unpick the tale. In doing so she discovers the impact of the prairie upbringing on her own family.

This is a book that is difficult to place into any genre. Although violence and death play a central role in the narrative, the novel isn’t about the investigation into the tragedies. Instead, the first part sets the context of the tragedy with the admirable Connie Flood observing the failings of fellow teachers and the struggles of students. But we then follow an older Connie though the eyes of her niece. Connie had followed an unusual path and the more conventional Anne can only marvel at her Aunt’s determination to live life as she wants it.

The characterisation is wonderful, especially the minor characters including the repellent Parley Burns and charismatic Michael Graves. But the overwhelming strength of this book is the quality of the writing. Hay evokes a lost time with small observations that conjure up a wealth of images. It’s one of those books that you marvel over individual sentences and the beauty of the prose. With my crime reviewer hat on, I suppose I do feel sad that there isn’t a resolution to some of the acts that are committed or even certainty over the culprit but it is nice to read something completely different. I would highly recommend this book.
(less)

like · see review

Jan 06, 2012 Gem rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adultfiction, read2012, canadiana

I notice that the 3-star rating on Goodreads means that I "liked it," although I would have given more stars for the quality of the book. Alone in the Classroom is beautiful written, almost sounding like poetry here and there. There is a reminiscent tone to the language and voice, and we go back and forth through time very easily.

The emotional reader in me wants to know what happened with Susan in the classroom, and Ethel by the chokecherries. The critic in me understands that this novel wasn't...more

like 1 like · see review

Jul 11, 2011 Jan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-books, adult-books-with-reviews

What an interesting novel! Set in Saskatchewan and the Ottawa Valley, this story goes back and forth in time from 1929 to present day. The narrator of the story is Anne Elizabeth. Anne is the niece of Connie Flood, the main character in this story. Author Elizabeth Hay, through the character of Anne, introduces the reader to many wonderfully well developed personalities like Michael Graves, Parley Burns and Syd Goodwin. Through Anne’s research on her Aunt Connie, we become involved in all of the...more

like 1 like · see review

Jun 07, 2011 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-books-i-have-reviewed, favorites

In this spectacularly subtle novel, Giller prizewinner Elizabeth Hay (for Late Nights on Air) braids family history and natural history, and paints an intricate, beguiling portrait of rural Canadian life in Saskatchewan and in the Ottawa Valley. Spanning the years 1927-2007, it opens up with the brutal murder of young schoolgirl Ethel Wier in 1937 Argyle (in Saskatchewan), a silver pail of chokecherries spilled near her bruised and battered body. This tragedy unfolds not in isolation, but connec...more

like 1 like · see review

Aug 20, 2011 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Alone in the Classroom","Elizabeth Hay",
"Beautiful poetic descriptions of the countryside. Connie is an 18 year old teacher in Saskatchewan in 1929. She spends a lot of time alone with a dyslexic student, Michael. Michael has a vast knowledge of outdoors, nature and is skilled at crafts, but Connie is not very successful in teaching him to read and spell or in raising his low feelings of self esteem. Also there is an odd principal, Parley, whom Connie calls a gentleman sadist,who is spending m...more

like · see review

Jun 25, 2011 Carol MacInnis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Anne, the narrator, follows her Aunt Connie Flood's life and her feelings for student, Michael Graves as well as her obsession with Principal Parley Burns.

The book begins with the brutal murder of a thirteen year old girl whose life was snuffed out while picking berries. A disturbing beginning that jumps into Connie Flood's life as a teacher and her interest in student Michael Graves. Michael's little sister, Susan, comes home late from school one day, her hair a mess, her clothes dishevelled an...more

like · see review

May 18, 2011 Alexis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

I did not like this book as much as "Late nights on Air", but there were sections of it I liked. At times, I struggled to articulate what this book was about. It's one that shouldn't work as the plot depends on a series of coincidences and reoccuring meetings, but somehow the book manages to work.

Hay's descriptive writing is really strong and she manages to make the plot work. This is really a story about love, obsession, student teacher relationships and the struggle to understand where one has...more

like · see review

Mar 06, 2013 Sarah Shrubb rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this a lot, but have reservations as well. I found the family relationships confusing. I also found the focus on one character, Parley Burns, in the end unsatisfying, because he wasn't the centre of anything in the end, though it long seemed that he was, or would be. I also really wanted a solution to the crime. The more I think about it, the more confused I become about the aim, the purpose, the point. There was some lovely writing there about landscape and life in the country, and abou...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 64 65 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
ELEVEN READER'S CLUB: Update 1-5 ~ Alone in the classroom	1	5	05. Januar, 08:07 Uhr
ELEVEN READER'S CLUB: Alone in the classroom by Elizabeth Hay Rational	1	4	30. September, 19:32 Uhr
ELEVEN READER'S CLUB: Alone in the classroom by Elizabeth Hay Rational	1	3	30. September, 19:32 Uhr
Um..I didn't love it, nor hate it.	2	12	15. Februar, 15:57 Uhr

combine
Other Editions (6)

More editions...

Genres

Cultural > Canada

26 users

Historical Fiction

15 users

Book Club

11 users

Literature > Canadian Literature

6 users

Mystery

4 users

Novels

3 users

Adult Fiction

2 users

Contemporary

2 users

Literary Fiction

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Cool Water
by Dianne Warren
The Little Shadows
by Marina Endicott
Natural Order
by Brian Francis
Tell It to the Trees
by Anita Rau Badami
Sanctuary Line
by Jane Urquhart

About Elizabeth Hay

From Elizabeth Hay's web site:
"Elizabeth Hay was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, the daughter of a high school principal and a painter, and one of four children. When she was fifteen, a year in England opened up her world and set her on the path to becoming a writer. She attended the University of Toronto, then moved out west, and in 1974 went north to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. For th...more

More about Elizabeth Hay...

Books by Elizabeth Hay

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Alone in the Clas...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Alone in the Classroom

“And when is it ever convincing, the belief others have in your abilities? You know perfectly well they can't see the mess inside you.” — 7 people liked it

“A child lies like a grey pebble on the shore until a certain teacher picks him up and dips him in water, and suddenly you see all the colours and patterns in the dull stone, and it’s marvelous for the stone and marvelous for the teacher.” — 3 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Alone in the Classroom
avg rating	preview: Alone in the Classroom Goodreads rating: 3.21 (1038 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9970166-alone-in-the-classroom?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320556923l/9970166.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9970166-alone-in-the-classroom?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Alone in the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay[/url]

Alone in the Classroom

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website