Margaret Laurence

Rachel is a 35-year-old school teacher who has no man in her life and lives with her mother. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she begins to have to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go.

The feisty aging Hagar Shipley has lived an unconventional life. Her rebellious heart has always ruled and her choices have put her at odds with family and friends. Faced with her own mortality, and desperate to find solace, she goes on the run. In both the past and the present, she is forced to come to terms with the pain and pleasure, the disappointments and the exhilarations of her life.

This feature documentary is a portrait of one of Canada's most celebrated authors, Margaret Laurence. Born in a small Prairie town in Manitoba, Laurence remained haunted by the images of this small Presbyterian home town. This film traces her life from the early days and introduces us to her characters, whom we meet through readings from her work by Canadian actress Jayne Eastwood. The film blends fact with fiction to give its audience a strong impression of who this very private person really was.

Morag Gunn, a writer who is having trouble with her teenage daughter, examines her own relationship history, which includes a period of turbulence with Jules. While she and Jules have known each other since childhood, he is no rock of stability. In addition, he is white, while she is part Native American, so the teenage Morag experienced racism he can only imagine. Even after they have a daughter, she struggles against the emptiness within her.

In coming to grips with previously well-concealed information about the death of her uncle in World War I, and the emotional upheaval it continues to cause her family, a young girl begins to question the benevolence of God and the order in God's world. Based on the short story by Margaret Laurence.