The Diviners is one of the most autobiographical works of the Canadian writer Margaret Laurence, as well as her last one. It was published in 1974, the same year it won the Governer General's Literary Awards. It has ever since then been considered a classic of Canadian Literature, despite the bans it faced in numerous high schools after being labeled as blasphemous by some Christian groups. The novel often appears in the Freedom to Read Foundation campaigns.
The book was completed by Laurence between the summers of 1971 and 1973, which she spent in a cabin near Peterborough a few years after her divorce finalized. The Diviners gives a truly lucid outlook on life through a narrative that is both raw and poetic. A mix of stories told with so much realism that their lack of conciseness is not a disruption, but a way of engaging readers through a certain degree of introspection.
This multi-layered tale follows Morag Gunn, a retired forty-seven years old writer living in a farmhouse in the fictional province of Manitoba, Canada. Alone, with very few friends, Morag finds herself revisiting her past after the departure of her daughter, Pique, whom she raised alone in a time where it was very hard to do so. In a series of what she calls memory banks, Morag takes us back and forth in time, telling us about experiences that shaped her life: from her difficult childhood with her adoptive parents, to her relationship with Jules, a Métis country singer. Laurence dresses here the portrait of a flawed woman in a flawed society, which makes both the lighthearted and cruel moments in this story incredibly humane.
