Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot review – Anne Enright celebrates a landmark feminist novel

Joan Barfoot’s landmark 1978 novel Gaining Ground is receiving a fresh look nearly half a century after its debut. The story centers on Abra, a woman who abandons her family to build a solitary existence in the Canadian wilderness. Anne Enright describes the work as a meditation on maternal obligation and the pursuit of an undivided self.

While contemporary literature features an array of narratives concerning maternal flight, Barfoot’s work stands apart for its refusal to categorize the protagonist as a monster or a victim. The narrative focuses on the internal transition of a woman seeking to shed her societal labels and memories to find a singular identity.

Barfoot explores the nature of truth and the artificiality of domestic life. The arrival of Abra’s daughter years later serves as a pivot point in the story, forcing a confrontation between Abra’s chosen isolation and her former life. The book maintains a strong hold on its subject matter, avoiding easy moralizing about the choices its characters make.

Faber has reissued the novel, placing it back into current literary conversations. Enright notes that Barfoot’s control over the narrative remains sharp and that the book continues to challenge readers to think about the creation and dissolution of the self.