Laurence, Margaret

Laurence, Margaret (Jean Margaret Laurence), 1926–87, Canadian novelist, b. Manitoba. She lived in Somaliland, Ghana, and England and many of her early works had an African setting. Laurence was particularly concerned with character, and her writings usually focused on women struggling to overcome the limitations of small town life. Among her novels are This Side Jordan (1960), The Stone Angel (1964), A Jest of God (1966), upon which the film Rachel, Rachel (1968) was based, The Fire-Dwellers (1969), and The Diviners (1974). In addition, Laurence published works on African literature, notably A Tree for Poverty (1954), a collection of Somali folktales and poetry, and Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists (1968), a critical evaluation.

Bibliography

See her Dance on the Earth: A Memoir (1989).

---

Laurence, Margaret

 orig. Jean Margaret Wemyss

(born July 18, 1926, Neepawa, Man., Can.—died Jan. 5, 1987, Lakefield, Ont.) Canadian writer. She lived in Africa with her engineer husband in the 1950s; her experiences there provided material for her early works. She is best known for depicting the lives of women struggling for self-realization in the male-dominated world of western Canada. Her works include the novels The Stone Angel (1964), A Jest of God (1966), and The Fire-Dwellers (1969) and the stories collected in A Bird in the House (1970) and The Diviners (1974). In the 1970s she turned to writing children's books.