The Stone Carvers is a 2001 historical and World War I novel by the Canadian writer Jane Urquhart. 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... Jane Urquhart (born June 21, 1949) is a Canadian author. ...

Plot introduction

The novel follows three generations of a Canadian family, starting with a wood carver who befriends an immigrant German priest as he founds a church in an isolated town in 19th century Ontario. The story centres around the lives of the wood carver's two grandchildren as it explores the devastation of World War I, the building of the Vimy Memorial to commemorate the Canadian war dead in France, and the human need to live, love, remember and memorialise. Artists can use woodworking to create delicate sculptures. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English (de facto) Flower White Trillium Tree Eastern White Pine Bird Common Loon Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 106 24... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... The Canadian National Vimy Memorial Vimy Memorial The mourning mother (Canada) The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is one of Canadas most important overseas war memorials to those who served their country in World War I and risked or gave their lives during the war. ...

Plot summary

In the mid-19th century, Father Gstir is sent from Bavaria to Canada to minister to German-Catholic communities. He is drawn to Shoneval, a farming town situated in a valley in Ontario, and is determined to build a stone church with a bell. Joseph Becker, a master woodcarver, helps him. The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

Later, Becker tries to pass on his carving skills to his grandson, Tilman, but the boy is unenthusiastic. Tilman suffers from constant restlessness and is unable to stay in one place, often running away from the settlement for weeks at a time. Aged 12 he leaves for good. Becker's granddaughter, Klara, by contrast, is eager to learn the carving trade and Becker reluctantly teaches her.

Klara falls in love with Eamon, the silent son of an Irish family, but she is hurt when he leaves her to fight in World War I. After he is reported as 'missing' Klara is devastated, and attempts to shut out her memory of him and her emotions, and lives the life of a spinster.

After leaving home, Tilman spends several years as a hobo on the roads and rails. He eventually meets up with a tramp named Refuto, who had left home because he felt guilty for indirectly killing his brother. Later, Refuto decides to try returning home, fearful that his family will not forgive his wrongs. Refuto brings Tilman with him to the Italian district of Hamilton; Tilman befriends Refuto's son Georgio and lives with the family for a time. But when war comes Tilman serves in the trenches of France, where he is 'injured out' after losing his leg in battle at Vimy Ridge. A performance artist dressed as a hobo Hobo is a term that refers to a subculture of wandering homeless people, particularly those who make a habit of hopping freight trains. ... The Battle of Vimy Ridge was one of the opening battles in a larger British campaign known as the Battle of Arras. ...

Aged in his 40s, Tilman returns to Shoneval, and Klara is reunited with the brother who had been assumed dead years ago.

She becomes determined to travel to France with Tilman to help carve the massive Vimy Memorial being built by Walter Allward. After overcoming her brother's reluctance they travel to France and start work on the monument, Klara disguised as a man. Walter Seymour Allward (November 18, 1876 - April 24, 1955) was a Canadian sculptor, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who created many works, but, was probably most famous for the Vimy Ridge Memorial. ...

After some weeks, and without permission, Klara sculpts Eamon's face on a key statue on the top of the memorial. Despite his initial anger, Allward sees how the change personalises and enhances the monument. He retains the alteration.

Klara falls in love with Giorgio, who is also working on the monument, and for the first time since Eamon's death she opens up her emotions. Tilman also opens himself up to physical intimacy for the first time, with a war-wounded French chef.

The novel ends with the imposing memorial completed, Allward all but forgotten, and Klara and Tilman now leading emotionally fulfilling lives with their partners in Canada, having memorialised the people they knew who had been taken by the war.

Major themes

Among other themes, The Stone Carvers deals with the loss of war, the loss of love, and the human need to remember and somehow memorialise those who have departed.

References to actual history and geography

Walter Allward and the memorial on Vimy Ridge are historical facts; however, the novel's detailed depiction of him is fictional.

The background story of Father Gstir and the church construction is loosely based on the construction of the church in Formosa, Ontario:[1]. Church of the Immaculate Conception Formosa is a small hamlet located in Bruce County, in Southern Ontario. ...

Awards and nominations

The Stone Carvers was a finalist for the Governor General's Award and the Giller Prize. Since their creation in 1937, the Governor Generals Literary Awards have become one of Canadas most prestigious prizes, awarded in both French and English in seven categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Drama, Childrens Literature-Text, Childrens Literature-Illustration, and Translation. ... The Giller Prize is an annual award that goes to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story fiction collection published in English. ...

External Links

• January Interview Jane Urquhart