The Life of Margaret Laurence
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44 “frightened the hell”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 8 April 1963. MS: York.
45 abandons work on novel about Stacey: ML to George Woodcock, 11 April 1978 (MS: Queen’s): “An odd thing—before I began writing A Jest of God, I started The Fire-Dwellers and got about 100 pp done and realized I had to write A Jest of God first—the other just wasn’t happening the way it should, so I threw out what I’d done on The Fire-Dwellers and did A Jest of God first.”
46 “One’s writing”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 29 April 1963. MS: McMaster.
47 “to the same house”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 1 October 1963. MS: York.
48 the Richler party: Interview with Robert and Audrey Weaver, July 1995; information from Mordecai and Florence Richler.
49 “The blankets”: “The Wild Blue Yonder,” in Heart of a Stranger, 135.
50 “Having spent a month”: ML to Jack McClelland, 10 December 1963. MS: McMaster.
51 “It was strange”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 18 December 1963. MS: York.
CHAPTER TWELVE
1 “The day”: Dance, 167.
2 “it has five bedrooms”: ML to Jack McClelland, 10 December 1963. MS: McMaster.
3 “Calcutta itself”: ML to Ethel Wilson, 21 January 1964. MS: University of British Columbia.
4 “What I appear”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 17 January 1964. MS: York.
5 “At one side”: MS: McMaster.
6 “no one in this area”: ML to Jack McClelland, 20 July 1970. MS: McMaster.
7 “The presence of my children”: Dance, 170.
8 “I feel somehow lonely”: ML to Nadine Jones, 29 May 1966. MS: Nadine Jones.
9 “Once got laid”: ML to Al Purdy, 3 January 1970. MS: Queen’s.
10 “I would stop writing”: Dance, 170.
11 “Are you happy”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 15 March 1964. MS: York.
12 “practically broke”; “absurdly optimistic”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 10 April 1964. MS: York.
13 “Why be half-classical”: Heart of a Stranger, 19.
14 “We decided”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 25 June 1964. MS: York.
15 “I don’t want him”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 15 March 1964. MS: York.
16 “He decided to sell”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 10 July 1964. MS: York.
17 “I was interested”: ML to Jane Rule, 24 August 1964. MS: University of British Columbia.
18 “Things are going along”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 24 August 1964. MS: York.
19 “We were fortunate”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 17 June 1964. MS: McMaster.
20 “the real world”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 19 November 1964. MS: York.
21 Mary Renault: ML file: McClelland & Stewart Archive. MS: McMaster.
22 “a major best-seller”: Jack McClelland to ML, 9 November 1964. MS: McMaster.
23 “He is the person”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 2 January 1963. MS: York.
24 extremes of power and weakness: Valuable comments on this aspect of The Stone Angel can be found in Helen Buss, “Margaret Laurence’s Dark Lovers,” Atlantis 11 (Spring 1986), 97–107; Joan Coldwell, “Hagar as Meg Merrilies, The Homeless Gypsy,” Journal of Canadian Fiction 27 (Summer 1980), 92–100; Constance Rooke, “A Feminist Reading of The Stone Angel,” Canadian Literature 93 (Summer 1982), 26–41.
25 “Man, what sophistication”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 10 July 1964. MS: York.
26 “as relaxed”; “I’ve been going”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 10 December 1964. MS: York.
27 “I know the character”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 31 December 1964. MS: York.
28 “God damn it”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 31 December 1964. MS: York.
29 “kind of feeling”: ML to Jane Rule, 1 January 1965. MS: University of British Columbia.
30 contemporary man and the novel: ML to Robert Hallstead, 15 January 1965. MS: University of Winnipeg.
31 “I suppose”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 24 January 1965. MS: York.
32 “What scares the hell”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 17 August 1965. MS: York.
33 “Have personal dilemmas”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 6 September 1965. MS: York.
34 “absolute nightmare”; “Last year” ML to Nadine Jones, 16 January 1966. MS: Nadine Jones.
35 “I could not help feeling”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 8 March 1965. MS: York.
36 “Do you know”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 7 February 1965. MS: York.
37 Catherine Milne: Interview with Pennie Jamieson, May 1995.
38 “I care a very great deal”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 12 March 1965. MS: McMaster.
39 “After about three years”: ML to Jack McClelland, 29 March 1965. MS: McMaster.
40 “I don’t really know”: Jack McClelland to ML, 29 March 1965. MS: McMaster.
41 “All the men”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 5 April 1965. MS: York.
42 “Interesting that you”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 12 April 1965. MS: McMaster.
43 “she didn’t see”: ML to Nadine Jones, 1 May 1965. MS: Nadine Jones.
44 “It has been a rather”: ML to Nadine Jones, 1 May 1965. MS: Nadine Jones.
45 “When I was in Scotland”: ML to Jack McClelland, 9 September 1965. MS: McMaster. In her letters from this time, ML states she was going to Scotland alone. However, Jocelyn and David did accompany her, a fact that can be ascertained by consulting the essay, “Road from the Isles,” published in Maclean’s on 2 May 1966 and reprinted in Heart of a Stranger.
46 “had been in the deepest possible”: Heart of a Stranger, 148.
47 “Scotland had become”: Heart of a Stranger, 155. During the Easter holiday of 1969, ML took David and a friend of his to Scotland. During that visit, they saw the battle-site of Culloden, “and I told the boys all about the ’45 [Rebellion]—any tour with me is a tour of history, absolutely inaccurate but dramatic as hell!” ML to Don Cameron, 12 May 1969. Wainwright, 49.
48 “Have you seen”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 17 May 1965. MS: York.
49 “bull-dozing kind”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 27 June 1965. MS: York.
50 “She kept saying”: ML to Robert Hallstead, 21 July 1965. MS: University of Winnipeg.
51 ML’s favourite scene in The Stone Angel: See ML to Robert Hallstead, 26 April 1965. MS: University of Winnipeg.
52 “Then he opens”; “This knowing”: The Stone Angel, 291–2.
53 “otherwise I would”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 17 August 1965. MS: York.
54 “HALLELUJAH!”: ML to Jack McClelland, 20 October 1965. MS: McMaster.
55 “I know what you mean”: ML to Nadine Jones, 10 December 1965. MS: Nadine Jones.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1 “managing to survive”; “He turned out”: ML to Nadine Jones, 16 January 1966. MS: Nadine Jones.
2 “So I got”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 17 January 1966. MS: McMaster.
3 “very nice”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 17 January 1966. MS: McMaster.
4 “job of editing”; “It would have been”: ML to Nadine Jones, 16 January 1966. MS: Nadine Jones.
5 “slogging along”: ML to Nadine Jones, 16 January 1966. MS: Nadine Jones.
6 “After about 4 months”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 16 January 1966. MS: York.
7 “Perhaps the most”: Long Drums and Cannons, 10.
8 “The best of these”; “Much as they”: Long Drums and Cannons, 203.
9 “rather amateurish”: Dance, 153.
10 “I’m giving up”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 20 February 1966. MS: York.
11 “I’m giving up my bedsitter in Hampstead”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 13 March 1967. MS: York.
12 “I decided”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 11 April 1967. MS: York.
13 “own or someone”; “Of course, with me”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 27 April 1966. MS: York.
14 “Okay, guys”; “laden down with”: Dance, 175.
15 “We’ve just returned”: ML to Jack McClelland, 27 April 1966. MS: McMaster.
16 “Adele, this week”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 29 May 1966. MS: York.
17 “a brief but extremely”:
ML to Nadine Jones, 18 June 1966. MS: Nadine Jones.
18 “I forgot”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 31 May 1966. MS: York.
19 “I am homesick”: MS: McMaster.
20 “I am quite willing”: ML to Jack McClelland, 17 June 1966. MS: McMaster.
21 “I don’t look old”: A Jest of God, 23.
22 “She sees only his body”: A Jest of God, 25.
23 “I will be light”: A Jest of God 209.
24 Rachel as a Sleeping Beauty: ML’s favourite critical piece on A Jest of God was George Bowering’s “That Fool of a Fear: Notes on A Jest of God,” Canadian Literature 50 (Autumn 1971), 41–56. Also excellent is Helen Buss’s, Mother and Daughter Relationships in the Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence, English Literary Studies 34 (Victoria: University of Victoria Press, 1985).
25 “The way I feel”: MS: York.
26 “I was only there a week”: ML to Jack McClelland, 9 July 1966. MS: McMaster.
27 “I had visions”: “The Wild Blue Yonder,” in Heart of a Stranger, 137.
28 “Please cable”: MS: McMaster.
29 “suit HIS plans”: ML to Nadine Jones, 18 June 1966. MS: Nadine Jones.
30 “When McClelland”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 23 October 1966. MS: York.
31 “began in nightmare fashion”: Dance, 178.
32 “I fell”; “I sashayed”: Dance, 179.
33 “Chris, it’s me”: Dance, 181.
34 “A reviewer”: Dance, 181.
35 “She didn’t”: 24 March 1967. MS: York.
36 Holiday: She had previously published three pieces in that magazine: “The Very Best Intentions” (November 1964), “The Epic Love of Elmii Bonderii” (November 1965), and “Sayonara, Agamemnon” (January 1966).
37 Nadine’s complaints: Interview with Nadine Jones, April 1995.
38 “I can’t bear”: Interview with Mildred Musgrove, June 1995.
39 “fuck”: Interview with Jack McClelland, July 1995.
40 “crazy”; “and looked”: ML to Al Purdy, 9 December 1968. Lennox, 108.
41 “Woodward’s agent”: Dance, 181.
42 Jamal: ML to Adele Wiseman, 23 October 1966. MS: York.
43 “Oh, I don’t see”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 15 November 1966. MS: McMaster.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1 “We only got home”: ML to Jack McClelland, 18 January 1967. MS: McMaster.
2 “more or less”: Dance, 183.
3 “I wouldn’t have minded”; “You can’t be worried”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 13 March 1967. MS: York.
4 “The man with whom”; “Why didn’t you”; “I’ve been working”; “he at least”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 9 April 1967. MS: York.
5 “Jack and I have decided”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 13 April 1967. MS: McMaster.
6 “comes here”: ML to Gordon Elliott, 26 April 1967. MS: Gordon Elliott.
7 “was just another admirer”: Al Purdy to ML, 10 December 1966. Lennox, 3.
8 “Owing to one of”: ML to Al Purdy, 16 January 1967. Lennox, 4.
9 Northrop Frye: ML to Jane Rule, 20 January 1967. MS: University of British Columbia.
10 “I’m still attempting”: ML to Al Purdy, 19 February 1967. Lennox, 11.
11 “it staggers along”: ML to Al Purdy, 16 January 1967. Lennox, 4.
12 “In the end”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 9 April 1967. MS: York.
13 “I suppose I feel”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 9 April 1967. MS: York.
14 “It makes me laugh”: ML to Jack McClelland, 5 May 1967. MS: McMaster.
15 “tense that my”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 17 May 1967. MS: York.
16 “psycho-somatic business”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 2 May 1967. MS: York.
17 “The book is”: ML to Jane Rule, 6 June 1967. MS: University of British Columbia.
18 Sinclair Ross: Despite this reservation, ML outlined in a letter to Adele Wiseman of 11 September 1967 (MS: York) the enormous admiration she had for Jim Ross’s achievements: “have just finished writing Introduction to Sinclair Ross’s short stories, for New Canadian Library. The stories all hang together so much—and in the end they reveal a prairie ethic that is positively frightening—the man has to prove absolutely strong in his own eyes; the woman has to endure all, silently. Impossible standards, and so people break down. Reading the stories, I felt such a sense of connection with the characters, even though they were in an era slightly before my adulthood. But I know them pretty well. The men who can’t turn to their wives for comfort, in time of disaster, and so turn—I joke not—to their horses. The stories are all of a piece, and thank goodness they are coming out as a collection at last. Don’t suppose Jim intended it that way, but within the era and that idiom, he has portrayed an entire people, their spiritual goals, their vulnerabilities. He really doesn’t have to worry about whether he ever does anything more. He’s done it. Not possible to communicate this to him, though.”
19 “I’ve felt”: ML to Jane Rule, 6 June 1967. MS: University of British Columbia.
20 Margaret Atwood: ML to Jane Rule, 6 June 1967. MS: University of British Columbia.
21 “enormous man”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 6 June 1967. MS: York.
22 “I was surprised”: ML to Jack McClelland, 23 June 1967. MS: McMaster.
23 “My kids”: ML to Al Purdy, 6 June 1967. Lennox, 28.
24 “some female Jacob”; “A lot of”; “The character was”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 21 June 1967. MS: York.
25 “A pyromaniac”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 29 June 1967. MS: York.
26 “How can I ever”; “But do you think”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 29 June 1967. MS: York.
27 “I am petrified”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 21 September 1967. MS: York.
28 “Actually, I feel like hell”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 27 September 1967. MS: York.
29 “to get across”; “The attempt to deal”: ML to Al Purdy, 6 June 1967. Lennox, 28.
30 “breakaway”; “Visualized the outer”: ML to Marjory Whitelaw, 11 October 1967. MS: York.
31 “The buildings”: The Fire-Dwellers, 14–15.
32 “Stacey looks at”: The Fire-Dwellers, 8.
33 “How can any woman”: Betty Friedan, “The Feminine Mystique,” Feminism in Our Time, ed. Miriam Schneir. (New York: Vintage Books, 1994), 66.
34 Betty Friedan: On 10 January 1971, ML told Margaret Atwood: “I remember refusing to read The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, some years ago, because I thought the novel which was brewing might be kind of related, and I thought the reading of a whole lot of stuff which might agree but was doing it from the journalistic angle, not fiction (which tries to approach by being, not talking) might screw me up.” Wainwright, 3.
35 Marshall McLuhan: See ML’s comment on McLuhan in her letter to the Camerons, 21 October 1967. Wainwright, 44.
36 “Come on”: The Fire-Dwellers, 86–7.
37 “novel must”: ML to the Camerons, 21 October 1967. Wainwright, 44.
38 “Will the fires”: The Fire-Dwellers, 280.
39 “She feels the city”: The Fire-Dwellers, 281.
40 lack of closure: Excellent evaluations of The Fire-Dwellers can be found in Mathew Martin, “Dramas of Desire in Margaret Laurence’s A Jest of God, The Fire-Dwellers, and The Diviners,” Studies in Canadian Literature 19, Volume 1 (1994), 58–71; Miriam Packer, “The Dance of Life: The Fire-Dwellers,” Journal of Canadian Fiction 27 (1980), 124–31; and Jamie S. Scott, “Fantasy, Nostalgia and the Courage to Be in Margaret Laurence’s The Fire-Dwellers,” Commonwealth Novel in English 4, Volume 1 (spring 1991), 89–101.
41 “Our lawn”: Dance, 188–9.
42 “wisdom must be”: Jason’s Quest, 155.
43 “a frivolous”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 11 September 1967. MS: York.
44 “this process”: ML to Al Purdy, 11 December 1967. Lennox, 75.
45 “I don’t write”: ML to Al Purdy, 5 January 1968. Lennox, 82.
46 “in the greybearded”: ML to Al Purdy, 2 July 1968. MS: Queen’s.
47 “
settled”; “kind of renaissance”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 19 February 1968. MS: York.
48 “Got home this morning”: ML to Alan Maclean, undated. MS: James King.
49 “not downcast”: ML to Alan Maclean, undated. MS: James King.
50 “First draft”: ML to Jack McClelland, 12 March 1968. MS: McMaster.
51 “The odd thing”: ML to Jane Rule, 14 March 1968. MS: University of British Columbia.
52 “post-novel depression”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 16 April 1968. MS: York.
53 “It’s not autobiographical”: ML to Al Purdy, 24 June 1968. MS: Queen’s.
54 “I didn’t pick”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 3 September 1968. MS: York.
55 “God, Adele”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 16 April 1968. MS: York.
56 “hell of a scare”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 30 June 1968. MS: York.
57 “the whole damn thing”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 4 April 1968. MS: York.
58 “godforsaken novel”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 29 May 1968. MS: York.
59 “I guess I have”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 29 November 1968. MS: York.
60 “chip in”: ML to Jack McClelland, 26 July 1968. MS: McMaster.
61 “expressing things”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 3 September 1968. MS: York.
62 “the main cry”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 3 September 1968. MS: York.
63 “The oddest things”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 9 December 1968. MS: York. “Manawaka” made its first appearance in “The Land of Our Fathers.” See p. 40.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1 “HERE I AM”: ML to Al Purdy, 10 January 1969. Lennox, 120.
2 Toronto Daily Star: 20 June 1970. The reviewer was Diana Goldsborough.
3 “I’ve only got”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 1 January 1969. MS: York.
4 “He is as real”: ML to Adele Wiseman, 26 January 1969. MS: York.
5 Vanessa MacLeod stories: 1963: “The Sound of the Singing,” Winter’s Tales 9 (1963); 1964: “To Set Our House in Order,” Ladies Home Journal; “A Bird in the House,” Atlantic Monthly; 1965: “The Mask of the Bear,” Winter’s Tales 11; 1966: “The Loons” (first published as “The Crying of the Loons”), Atlantic Advocate; 1967: “Horses of the Night,” Chatelaine; “Nanuk,” Argosy. The eighth, concluding story, “Jericho’s Brick Battlements” was the only narrative first published in A Bird in the House.