Margaret Laurence

Author profile

born

July 18, 1926 in Neepawa, Canada

died

January 05, 1987

gender

female

About this author

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Margaret Laurence was born Jean Margaret Wemyss on July 18, 1926 in the prairie town of Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. Both of her parents passed away in her childhood, and Laurence was raised by her aunt and maternal grandfather.

Laurence decided in childhood that she wanted to be a writer, and began writing stories in elementary school. Her professional writing career began in 1943 with a job at the town newspaper, and continued in 1944 when she entered the Honours English program at Winnipeg's United College (now the University of Winnipeg.) After graduating in 1947, she was hired as a reporter for The Winnipeg Citizen. That same year, she married Jack Laurence, a civil engineer.

Jack Laurence's profession took the couple to England, Somalia,...more

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Books by Margaret Laurence

Average rating: 3.79 · 6,315 ratings · 299 reviews · 31 distinct works

	The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) (Adapted by) 4.09 avg rating — 1,398 ratings — published 1974 — 15 editions	My rating:
	The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, Adele Wiseman 3.63 avg rating — 1,561 ratings — published 1964	My rating:
	A Bird in the House 3.77 avg rating — 554 ratings — published 1963 — 16 editions	My rating:
	A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) (Afterword) 3.76 avg rating — 566 ratings — published 1966 — 13 editions	My rating:
	The Fire-Dwellers 3.76 avg rating — 346 ratings — published 1969 — 10 editions	My rating:
	The Tomorrow-Tamer 3.77 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 1963 — 5 editions	My rating:
	This Side Jordan 3.70 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 1960 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Olden Days Coat 4.00 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 1979 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Dance on the Earth: a Memoir 4.07 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 1989 — 2 editions	My rating:
	The Prophet's Camel Bell 3.65 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	My rating:

More books by Margaret Laurence…

Series by Margaret Laurence

Manawaka Sequence (5 books)
by Margaret Laurence, Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) (Adapted by)

3.82 avg rating — 4,430 ratings

Quotes by Margaret Laurence

“So, if this were indeed my Final Hour, these would be my words to you. I would not claim to pass on any secret of life, for there is none, or any wisdom except the passionate plea of caring ... Try to feel, in your heart's core, the reality of others. This is the most painful thing in the world, probably, and the most necessary. In times of personal adversity, know that you are not alone. Know that although in the eternal scheme of things you are small, you are also unique and irreplaceable, as are all of your fellow humans everywhere in the world. Know that your commitment is above all to life itself.”
― Margaret Laurence

tags: humanity , life , unique

20 people liked it

“What goes on inside isn't ever the same as what goes on outside.”
― Margaret Laurence, The Fire-Dwellers

tags: inner-life , reality

12 people liked it

“Where I'm going, anything may happen. Nothing may happen. Maybe I will marry a middle-aged widower, or a longshoreman, or a cattle-hoof-trimmer, or a barrister or a thief. And have my children in time. Or maybe not. Most of the chances are against it. But not, I think, quite all. What will happen? What will happen. It may be that my children will always be temporary, never to be held. But so are everyone's.

I may become, in time, slightly more eccentric all the time. I may begin to wear outlandish hats, feathered and sequinned and rosetted, and dangling necklaces made from coy and tiny seashells which I've gathered myself along the beach and painted coral-pink with nail polish. And all the kids will laugh, and I'll laugh, too, in time. I will be light and straight as any feather. The wind will bear me, and I will drift and settle, and drift and settle. Anything may happen, where I'm going.”
― Margaret Laurence, A Jest of God

8 people liked it

See all Margaret Laurence's quotes »

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