The Stone Carvers

First edition cover
Author	Jane Urquhart
Country	Canada
Language	English
Subject	World War I
Genre	Fiction, Historical Fiction
Publisher	McClelland and Stewart
Publication date	2001
Media type	Print
Awards	Finalist for Giller Prize
ISBN
OCLC	48710917

The Stone Carvers (2001) is a novel by the Canadian writer Jane Urquhart, focusing on the historical events of World War I, and the fictional town of Shoneval, Ontario.

The novel follows three generations of a Canadian family, starting in 19th century Ontario with a Bavarian wood carver and an immigrant German priest on a mission to found a church in an isolated town. However, the story centres around the lives of the wood carver's grandchildren in the 1900s; thus exploring the devastation of World War I, the building of the Vimy Memorial in France, and what Urquart calls "the redemptive nature of making art."

Beginning with the woodcarver Joseph Becker, the novel's timeline shifts back and forth between his life in 19th century Ontario, and the pre- and post-war lives of the grandchildren Klara and Tilman. Told in three parts, The Stone Carvers starts within Canada, moving to France as the characters negotiate their grief, and explore the human need to live, remember and memorialize.

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.

Shifting to the 1930s, Klara is introduced as a middle-aged spinster alone in Shovenal. However, the narrative then rewinds to when Klara and her brother Tilman were children. Here we learn that they are the grandchildren of Becker who tries to pass on his carving skills to his grandson. However, the boy is reluctant and unenthusiastic; suffering from wanderlust, Tilman is unable to stay in the same spot for long, and often runs away from the small town. When Tilman reaches 12, his mother is overcome with the stress of losing her child over and over again, resulting in the use of some unorthodox ways to keep him to Shoneval, including literally tying him down. However, unable to be kept in one place, Tilman leaves for good. By contrast, Klara is eager to learn the carving trade and Becker teaches her while her mother passes on her skills of needlework.

In her youth, Klara falls in love with the silent son of an Irish family, Eamon O'Sullivan. Eamon does not stay in her life for long, as he leaves to fight in World War I with plans to fly an airplane and come back a hero. After he is reported as missing in action, Klara is devastated and attempts to shut out her memory of him and her emotions, and the narrative returns to her life as the spinster.