Morag Gunn started out life with two loving parents. At age six, both parents died of influenza. Little Morag was taken to live with Christie and Prin Logan in the small fictional Manitoba town of Manawaka. Seems a simple enough story, however Christie was known as The Scavenger, the town of Manawaka’s garbage collector. Christie, a self made philosopher, told Morag many stories of her Scottish history, while Prin quiet and withdrawn, ate jelly donuts. Morag grew up being ashamed of her step-parents, and moved away as quickly as possible to Toronto and University. At Prin’s passing and later at Christie’s passing she realized with belated gratitude how deep her affections were for them. In University she met and married her English professor. Their relationship started passionately. They married and Morag left University. Her attempt to find respect and normalcy with Brooke Skelton failed as Brooke carried his own very secret baggage that he had buried deeply within his orderly, rigid life. In high school, Morag had a brief relationship with one of her classmates, Jules, nicknamed Skinner. His family, with long MetÃs history, lived in Manawaka's shanty town in great poverty, sadness and the cruel stigma of the time. This relationship with Jules rekindled at the end of her marriage and, although only distantly permanent, brought a daughter into the world. Margaret Laurence wove the stories together beautifully and with compassion. Her characters were finely drawn with nuances of the personalities and the histories that shaped them.
“Well, you’re young. You know a whole lot
you won’t know later on.” ~ Christie Logan
~ Margaret Laurence, The Diviners
Title: The Diviners
Author: Margaret Laurence
Publisher: McClelland and Stewart Limited
Copyright: 1974
Format: Hard Cover
ISBN: 0-7710-4748-7
Type: Fiction
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