In Vancouver, they joined a church The Unitarian Church.They lived happily for a while but then Margaret left Vancouver with her two children.Margaret and Jack divorced in 1969.
She and her children moved to England where they settled in Elm Cottage in Penn Buckinghamshire. After arriving in England she wrote Wiseman. During the seven years of staying in England, her children grew into adults. The jest of God which received the Governor General’s Award was the basis for a movie, Rachel, Rachel in 1966. Continued with The Diviners 1974, the narrators of the earlier stories reappear in this final Manawaka novel, emphasizing their unity as a set. Laurence won her second Governor General’s Award for The Diviners.
While still living in England Laurence established a summer home in Southern Ontario, which she named Manawaka Cottage. Her returns to Canada became a year around. She made her home in Lakefield, Ontario. In 1976, she began attending the Lakefield United Church.
She had been comfortable with Unitrain n belief (or lack of it) she did not feel in the Unitarian heritage the raw power of the image of the crucifixion, which she thought expressed the suffering of humanity, and of women in particular. Her decision is based on the difficulties she has with balancing roles as wife, mother, and writer. Between 1963 and 1966, Laurence writes four novels. During this period Laurence begins her celebrated Manawaka series with The Stone Angel and A Jest of God. The Stone Angel is hailed a major work of Canadian literature and the most stunning achievement of Laurence’s career. It is the story of Hagar, an elderly woman who must negotiate the choices of her past in order to find peace.
