Harriet Doerr (1910–2002)
Author of Stones for Ibarra
About the Author
Harriet Doerr was born Harriet Green Huntington on April 8, 1910 in Pasadena, California. She attended Smith College from 1927-1928 and Stanford University from 1928-1930, but left college when she got married. She received a B.A. from Stanford University in 1977. She wrote her first novel, Stones show more for Ibarra, at the age of 73. It won the American Book Award for first fiction and was made into a television movie starring Glenn Close in 1988. Her other works include Consider This, Señora, and The Tiger in the Grass: Stories and Other Inventions. Her work also appeared in several anthologies and periodicals. She died on November 24, 2002 at the age of 92. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Harriet Doerr
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Doerr, Harriet
- Birthdate
- 1910-04-08
- Date of death
- 2002-11-24
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Pasadena, California, USA
- Place of death
- Pasadena, California, USA
- Places of residence
- Pasadena, California, USA
Mexico - Education
- Stanford University (European History, 1977)
- Occupations
- writer
- Short biography
- Born and raised in California, Harriet Green Huntington attended Stanford University but left after her junior year to marry Albert Doerr. The couple moved to Mexico in the late 1950s. After her husband's death, Harriet Doerr returned to California and completed her BA degree at Stanford. She began writing and was soon publishing short stories.
Her first novel Stones for Ibarra, was published in 1984, when Ms. Doerr was 74 years old, and won the National Book Award for first work of fiction. Her works were heavily influenced by her years of living in Mexico.
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Reviews
Dower is fantastically talented. But felt more like linked stories than a novel. About an American wife trying to process the slow decline and death of her husband in Mexico.
I debated four stars for this as, while reading it, I felt like a was super enjoying it. It's only in retrospect that I feel like I only enjoyed it. Nothing much happens, just a glimpse of the life of some expatriates as they sojourn in Mexico, but that's okay. It was a really good glimpse. It's easy to see how this was listed as a notable book for the year by the Times.
3.5***
At the outset of the novel Richard and Sara Everton arrive in the remote mountain of Ibarra, Mexico. The state is never specified but I believe this fictitious town is in the state of Michoacan. They have sold their home in California and most of their belongings to move to Ibarra so that they can reopen the Malaguena mine that Richard’s grandfather abandoned some fifty years previously.
What were they thinking? This is not a quaint, lovely town, it’s a dusty, dying village with impoverished and little-educated residents, and little to no infrastructure. Yes, they have plumbing and electricity, such as it is. But they must travel several hours to a larger city to place a phone call. At least they speak Spanish … sort of.
But the Evertons are committed to this plan. They work hard to re-establish the mine, hire a housekeeper, cook, gardener, and security for the front gate. Begin to hire and train workers for the mine, buy local furnishings for the house, and make a life here. They don’t really understand the local culture, but they are at least open to learning.
I found this very atmospheric. I loved the descriptions of the various festivals and local traditions, the unique blend of native religious beliefs with Catholicism, and of herbal medicine administered by a curandera vs “modern” treatments by a university-educated physician.
There are several subplots involving the residents of the town, including a love-triangle between two brothers and a fetching young girl, a procession of young priests brought in to assist the resident pastor, and a series of doctors, mostly fresh out of school, whose life’s ambitions were clearly NOT to live in remote Ibarra.
The book was made into a TV movie in 1988, starring Glenn Close and Keith Carradine as Sarah and Richard Everton. I’ve never seen it.… (more)
At the outset of the novel Richard and Sara Everton arrive in the remote mountain of Ibarra, Mexico. The state is never specified but I believe this fictitious town is in the state of Michoacan. They have sold their home in California and most of their belongings to move to Ibarra so that they can reopen the Malaguena mine that Richard’s grandfather abandoned some fifty years previously.
What were they thinking? This is not a quaint, lovely town, it’s a dusty, dying village with impoverished and little-educated residents, and little to no infrastructure. Yes, they have plumbing and electricity, such as it is. But they must travel several hours to a larger city to place a phone call. At least they speak Spanish … sort of.
But the Evertons are committed to this plan. They work hard to re-establish the mine, hire a housekeeper, cook, gardener, and security for the front gate. Begin to hire and train workers for the mine, buy local furnishings for the house, and make a life here. They don’t really understand the local culture, but they are at least open to learning.
I found this very atmospheric. I loved the descriptions of the various festivals and local traditions, the unique blend of native religious beliefs with Catholicism, and of herbal medicine administered by a curandera vs “modern” treatments by a university-educated physician.
There are several subplots involving the residents of the town, including a love-triangle between two brothers and a fetching young girl, a procession of young priests brought in to assist the resident pastor, and a series of doctors, mostly fresh out of school, whose life’s ambitions were clearly NOT to live in remote Ibarra.
The book was made into a TV movie in 1988, starring Glenn Close and Keith Carradine as Sarah and Richard Everton. I’ve never seen it.… (more)
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- Works
- 6
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 1,551
- Popularity
- #16,610
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 24
- ISBNs
- 38
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- Favorited
- 7
I was drawn to Stones for Ibarra by a Wikipedia comparison to One Hundred Years of Solitude and a mention of magical realism.
Stones is the story of Sara and Richard Delton and their experience in moving from California to Ibarra, a small village in Mexico, to reopen Richard’s grandfather’s abandoned copper mine. Nearly every chapter is a glimpse into one facet of the lives of the villagers – the poor, the pious, and the slightly criminal. Soon though, it’s clear that we are inside Sara’s head, and the last few chapters are less about the village and more about their marriage.
Doerr’s prose is spare and expressive; if the book were a painting it would be drawn with vivid colors, a landscape populated with simply depicted people and animals. The viewer would have a clear understanding of the lives being illustrated and of the natural world surrounding them.
What puzzled me was why the Deltons even have a place in the painting. They definitely have their own story line, and a sad one it is – but it’s awkwardly juxtaposed with village life until the last couple of chapters.
This is explained by the fact that Harriet Doerr and her husband Albert did move from San Francisco to Mexico to run Albert’s family mine, and their story ended much as the Deltons’ did. Although it’s presented as novel rather than memoir, this is based on actual events. I’m not certain how strictly autobiographical it is – did Luis, Ignacio, and Paz really exist? Did Lourdes the housekeeper really hide charms around the house to keep the Deltons healthy and the mine prosperous? We don’t know, and I don’t want to know.
Stones for Ibarra was published in 1984 – a little young for a classic, but it reads like a classic and it won a National Book Award for First Work of Fiction, among many other awards. The author wrote a second novel and a collection of short stories and essays. The book was the basis for a movie made for TV in 1988 starring Glenn Close and Keith Carradine.… (more)