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Intimate Strangers: The Letters of Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy
The books of Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy are among the most beloved in Canadian literature. In 1976, when both were at the height of their careers, they began a seven-year written correspondence. Laurence had just published her widely acclaimed The Diviners, for which she won her second Governor-General’s Award, and Roy had returned to the centre of the literary stage with a series of books that many critics now consider her richest and most mature works. Although both women had been born and raised in Manitoba ― Laurence in Neepawa and Roy in St. Boniface ― they met only once, in 1978 at a conference in Calgary. As these letters reveal, their prairie background created a common understanding of place and culture that bridged the differences of age and language. Here Laurence and Roy discuss everything from their own and each other’s writing, to Canadian politics, housekeeping, publishing, and their love of nature. With a thoughtful introduction by Paul G. Socken, these lovely and intimate letters record the moving, affectionate friendship between two remarkable women.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
120 pages, Hardcover
First published December 2, 2004
3 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Laurence
48 books405 followersCanada's classic authoress was born Jean Margaret Wemyss on July 18, 1926 in the prairie town of Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. Her Mom, Verna, passed away early. Her Aunt Margaret helped her Father take care of her for a year, then they married and had a Son. Their Father died two years afterwards. Aunt Margaret was a Mother to her, raising the kids in theirr maternal Grandfather's home.
Margaret wrote 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 (University Of Winnipeg.) After graduating in 1947, she was hired as a reporter for The Winnipeg Citizen. That year, she married Jack Laurence, a civil engineer.
Jack's profession took the couple to England, Somalia, and eventually Ghana, where Margaret gained an appreciation for Africa and the storytelling traditions of its peoples. It was in Africa that their children, Jocelyn and David, were born, and when Margaret began to work seriously on her writing. Her book of essays about and translations of Somali poetry and prose was published in 1954 as A Tree for Poverty. A collection of short stories, The Tomorrow-Tamer, as well as a novel, This Side Jordan (both focusing on African subjects) were published after Margaret returned home to Canada. Her fiction was thereafter concerned with Canadian subjects, but she maintained her interest in African literature and in 1968 published a critical analysis of Nigerian literature, Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists 1952-1966. Present in her African works is a concern with the ethical dilemma of being a white colonialist living in colonial Africa.
In 1957, Margaret and her family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, for five years. In 1962, Margaret & Jack divorced. She moved to London, England for a year, followed by a cottage in Buckinghamshire for ten years, although she visited Canada often. During this period, Margaret wrote her first works with Canadian subject matter.
"The Stone Angel" was published in 1964, and was the first of her "Manawaka novels", the fictional prairie community modelled after her hometown of Neepawa, Manitoba. It was followed by "A Jest Of God" in 1966 (for which she won her first Governor General's Award,) "The Fire-Dwellers" in 1969, and "A Bird In The House" in 1970. Margaret received critical and commercial acclaim in Canada and in 1971, was honoured by being named a Companion to the Order of Canada.
In the early 1970s, she returned to Canada and settled in Lakefield, Ontario. She continued to write and was writer-in-residence at the University Of Toronto, the University Of Western Ontario, and Trent University. In 1974, Margaret completed her final novel, "The Diviners", for which she received the Governor General's Award and the Molson Prize. It was followed by a book of essays, Heart Of A Stranger" in 1976 and several children's books: "Jason's Quest", "The Olden-Days Coat", "Six Darn Cows", and "The Christmas Birthday Story". Her autobiography "Dance On The Earth" was published in 1987.
Margaret died on January 5, 1987 at her home in Lakefield, after learning her lung cancer diagnosis was terminal. She is buried in Neepawa Cemetery, a few metres from the stone angel which inspired her novel.
Margaret wrote 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 (University Of Winnipeg.) After graduating in 1947, she was hired as a reporter for The Winnipeg Citizen. That year, she married Jack Laurence, a civil engineer.
Jack's profession took the couple to England, Somalia, and eventually Ghana, where Margaret gained an appreciation for Africa and the storytelling traditions of its peoples. It was in Africa that their children, Jocelyn and David, were born, and when Margaret began to work seriously on her writing. Her book of essays about and translations of Somali poetry and prose was published in 1954 as A Tree for Poverty. A collection of short stories, The Tomorrow-Tamer, as well as a novel, This Side Jordan (both focusing on African subjects) were published after Margaret returned home to Canada. Her fiction was thereafter concerned with Canadian subjects, but she maintained her interest in African literature and in 1968 published a critical analysis of Nigerian literature, Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists 1952-1966. Present in her African works is a concern with the ethical dilemma of being a white colonialist living in colonial Africa.
In 1957, Margaret and her family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, for five years. In 1962, Margaret & Jack divorced. She moved to London, England for a year, followed by a cottage in Buckinghamshire for ten years, although she visited Canada often. During this period, Margaret wrote her first works with Canadian subject matter.
"The Stone Angel" was published in 1964, and was the first of her "Manawaka novels", the fictional prairie community modelled after her hometown of Neepawa, Manitoba. It was followed by "A Jest Of God" in 1966 (for which she won her first Governor General's Award,) "The Fire-Dwellers" in 1969, and "A Bird In The House" in 1970. Margaret received critical and commercial acclaim in Canada and in 1971, was honoured by being named a Companion to the Order of Canada.
In the early 1970s, she returned to Canada and settled in Lakefield, Ontario. She continued to write and was writer-in-residence at the University Of Toronto, the University Of Western Ontario, and Trent University. In 1974, Margaret completed her final novel, "The Diviners", for which she received the Governor General's Award and the Molson Prize. It was followed by a book of essays, Heart Of A Stranger" in 1976 and several children's books: "Jason's Quest", "The Olden-Days Coat", "Six Darn Cows", and "The Christmas Birthday Story". Her autobiography "Dance On The Earth" was published in 1987.
Margaret died on January 5, 1987 at her home in Lakefield, after learning her lung cancer diagnosis was terminal. She is buried in Neepawa Cemetery, a few metres from the stone angel which inspired her novel.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 18, 2011
3.5 STARS
"The books of Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy are among the most beloved in Canadian literature. In 1976, when both were at the height of their careers, they began a seven-year written correspondence. Laurence had just published her widely acclaimed The Diviners, for which she won her second Governor-General’s Award, and Roy had returned to the centre of the literary stage with a series of books that many critics now consider her richest and most mature works.
Although both women had been born and raised in Manitoba —Laurence in Neepawa and Roy in St. Boniface — they met only once, in 1978 at a conference in Calgary. As these letters reveal, their prairie background created a common understanding of place and culture that bridged the differences of age and language. Here Laurence and Roy discuss everything from their own and each other’s writing, to Canadian politics, housekeeping, publishing, and their love of nature. With a thoughtful introduction by Paul G. Socken, these lovely and intimate letters record the moving, affectionate friendship between two remarkable women." (From Amazon)
A fascinating book that brings together the letters of two of the greatest female Canadian writers. It is really only interesting if you like Laurence and/or Roy.
"The books of Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy are among the most beloved in Canadian literature. In 1976, when both were at the height of their careers, they began a seven-year written correspondence. Laurence had just published her widely acclaimed The Diviners, for which she won her second Governor-General’s Award, and Roy had returned to the centre of the literary stage with a series of books that many critics now consider her richest and most mature works.
Although both women had been born and raised in Manitoba —Laurence in Neepawa and Roy in St. Boniface — they met only once, in 1978 at a conference in Calgary. As these letters reveal, their prairie background created a common understanding of place and culture that bridged the differences of age and language. Here Laurence and Roy discuss everything from their own and each other’s writing, to Canadian politics, housekeeping, publishing, and their love of nature. With a thoughtful introduction by Paul G. Socken, these lovely and intimate letters record the moving, affectionate friendship between two remarkable women." (From Amazon)
A fascinating book that brings together the letters of two of the greatest female Canadian writers. It is really only interesting if you like Laurence and/or Roy.
Read
August 20, 2010Short volume of letters written between deans of Canadian literature from 1976 to 1983. Interesting and charming but perhaps not as revelatory as they might have been had the two known each other better. Laurence's letters reveal more but she had the advantage of writing in her first language. Less than one hundred pages.
March 22, 2011
The letters of Margret Laurence and Grabrielle Roy
April 3, 2019
Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy both figured in my English studies at University and my reading for pleasure back in the 70s and 80s. At some point in time we visited Margaret Laurence's childhood home in Neepawa, Manitoba, on a warm summer day, and I had the pleasure of going up into her upstairs bedroom and gazing out into her backyard as I'm thinking she likely did on similar lovely, quiet summer afternoons in the past.
This slim selection of letters between Laurence and Roy was a pleasure to read. They were both quite friendly and supportive, and had that old style of writing (i.e., letter writing) where one apologizes profusely for taking so long to reply, and where there is also an equally profuse supportive statement or two at the closing of the letter. I felt that Roy was quite in awe of Laurence and perhaps surprised that Laurence deigned to write to her at all.
Both women were well-respected in large and smaller literary circles. These letters give a glimpse into their private struggles to continue to 'stay in the game' and some interesting notes about how writing has changed over the years to be more of a pressurized, commercial experience for the writers.
When I finished reading it (all in one go), I felt inclined to go re-read Laurence's Diviners, and to read the English translations of Roy's (I have only ever read "The Tin Flute"-- I may well re-read it as well). Recommended.
This slim selection of letters between Laurence and Roy was a pleasure to read. They were both quite friendly and supportive, and had that old style of writing (i.e., letter writing) where one apologizes profusely for taking so long to reply, and where there is also an equally profuse supportive statement or two at the closing of the letter. I felt that Roy was quite in awe of Laurence and perhaps surprised that Laurence deigned to write to her at all.
Both women were well-respected in large and smaller literary circles. These letters give a glimpse into their private struggles to continue to 'stay in the game' and some interesting notes about how writing has changed over the years to be more of a pressurized, commercial experience for the writers.
When I finished reading it (all in one go), I felt inclined to go re-read Laurence's Diviners, and to read the English translations of Roy's (I have only ever read "The Tin Flute"-- I may well re-read it as well). Recommended.
October 22, 2019
Some of my favourite things to read are letters. This slim little book of correspondence between Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy is no exception. To read their daily concerns, their struggles with work and their frustration with Canada's political administration of the 70s is both insightful and humbling. Humbling because the letters reminded me again that the struggles that seem so new and fresh to me, have existed for a long time. That people by and large have always tried to deal with and find solutions to deeply ingrained issues, and they will continue to do so.
Writers will hear their own struggles echoed in those letters, and if you're like me, you may not only find company but also comfort in their revelations to each other. I have read most of Laurence's work. During the reading of The Diviners in 2003 I made a life altering decision that I have never regretted, so Laurence holds a very special spot in my canon. It's time to crack open my dusty copy of The Tin Flute.
Writers will hear their own struggles echoed in those letters, and if you're like me, you may not only find company but also comfort in their revelations to each other. I have read most of Laurence's work. During the reading of The Diviners in 2003 I made a life altering decision that I have never regretted, so Laurence holds a very special spot in my canon. It's time to crack open my dusty copy of The Tin Flute.
July 16, 2021
A lovely, lovely little book. I cannot but give it a 5 star for two reasons. One because I love Gabrielle Roy, I have read everything she ever wrote and she is what I believe I would be if I was born in her shoes. Of course, she has the talent but I am referring here more to her persona, to her deep understanding at a heart to heart connection with her immigrants. She means Canada to me and so does Margaret Laurence.
The second reason is that these letters are intimate, and they so perfectly pencil in both women’s struggle with writing, their encouragement of each other and life in general.
The second reason is that these letters are intimate, and they so perfectly pencil in both women’s struggle with writing, their encouragement of each other and life in general.
September 12, 2025
well put together group of letters between two beloved Canadian writers filled with joy and pain and the beauty of literature.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews