Heart of a Stranger (Currents in Canadian Literature) - Softcover

Margaret Laurence; Nora Foster Stovel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0888644078 ISBN 13: 9780888644077

Publisher: University of Alberta Press, 1999

Synopsis

Between 1964 and 1975, Margaret Laurence wrote not only her Manawaka cycle, but also this collection of essays chronicling her travels and revealing how they inspired her fiction. Nora Foster Stovel's new introduction explores how Laurence's experiences in Somalia, Nigeria, Greece, Egypt, England and Scotland influenced and informed her Canadian fiction.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Travel was closely connected to Margaret Laurence’s creativity. Laurence realized that her travels, especially to Africa, provided her with new perspectives on Canada. Heart of a Stranger, originally published in 1976, is a fascinating travelogue chronicling Laurence's geographical journeys to many lands and historic places. She notes "I saw, somewhat to my surprise, that they are all, in one way or another, travel articles. And by travel, I mean both those voyages which are outer and those voyages which are inner." Laurence writes about her travels to Egypt in "Good Morning to the Grandson of Ramesses the Second," to Scotland in "Road from the Isles," and to Greece in "Sayonara, Agamemnon." In "The Very Best Intentions" Laurence sees herself as a "stranger in a strange land" in Ghana. She reflects on the many places she lived in "Put Out One or Two More Flags," "Down East," "The Shack" and "Where the World Began." Professor Nora Foster Stovel’s new introduction "Heart of a Traveller" explores how Laurence’s experiences in other lands influenced and shaped her writing. She contends that "Heart of a Stranger constitutes a concealed autobiography, for, in chronicling her literal life journey, Laurence also reveals her spiritual odyssey."

About the Author:

Margaret Laurence, best known for her five Manawaka novels, also published five African texts, as well as collections of essays, short stories, children's books and literary criticism.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Alberta Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0888644078
• ISBN 13: 9780888644077
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272