- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm) (April 1977)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0553104004
- ISBN-13: 978-0553104004
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 463 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,446,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Amazon.ca
In A Jest of God, the second of Margaret Laurence's Manawaka novels, 34-year-old Rachel Cameron tries as hard as she can to live her life in the shadows. Suffocated by her overbearing mother, with whom she lives in the tiny flat above her late father's funeral parlour, Rachel buries herself in her job as an elementary school teacher and her dreams of escaping Manawaka and her mother. She longs for friendship and affection but is quick to reject any offers. When she gives in to her desires and has her first sexual experiences, she becomes terrified that she's become pregnant even though she also longs to have a child. When her supposed pregnancy turns out to be a benign tumour, Rachel decides she has to get out of Manawaka.
Laurence brilliantly conjures the stifling anxiety that envelops Rachel, and her fears of transgressing the social norm. A Jest of God, which won the 1966 Governor General's Award for fiction, is a provocative and profoundly moving novel about one woman's struggle to escape the strictures of small-town life and become self-reliant and self-confident, and to learn from, rather than be overwhelmed by, those random jests of God. --Jeffrey Canton --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
Book Description
A thirty-four-year-old school teacher living with her mother, Rachel Cameron feels trapped in an environment of small-town deceit and pettiness--her own and that of others. She longs for contact with another human being who shares her rebellious spirit. Finally, by confronting both love and death, Rachel earns the freedom she desperately needs.
Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award, A Jest of God was also the basis of the movie Rachel, Rachel. "Mrs. Laurence tells [her story] unsparingly, with absolute authority, using her thorough understanding of Rachel to draw us into her anguish. We know Rachel, sympathize with her, and in a sense, become Rachel, so authentic is her voice. . . . A Jest of God has extraordinary clarity, beautiful detail, as well as the emotional impact of honest confession."--Joan J. Hall, Saturday Review
One of Canada's most accomplished writers, Margaret Laurence(1926-1987) was the recipient of many awards, including the prestigious Governer General's Litarary Award for The Diviners and A Jest of God. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Tale of Loneliness and Desire,
By
This review is from: A Jest of God (Mass Market Paperback)
Thirty-four-old school teacher Rachel Cameron is living a quiet life with her mother in the small Manitoba town of Manawaka. It's not a town where much happens and when it does, everyone knows. The return of an old school friend, Nick Kazlik, adds some spark to Rachel's life, but these are the early 60's, a time where proper women do not follow through on their deepest wishes and needs without repercussions. Rachel embarks on an affair with Nick, her heart and body telling her that this is right and wonderful, while her thoughts are filled with fear about getting caught, or worse, pregnancy.Rachel's conflicted emotions and desires drive the plot and tension as she copes with her passive-aggressive mother, and the school principal she barely tolerates. Doing the right thing in Rachel's world means living an incredibly lonely life, which lead to moments of desperation. Should she continue to fulfill the expectations placed on her, or is there a way to break free? A Jest of God is a beautifully written book by Canadian literary icon, Margaret Laurence. It's been over twenty years since I read a Laurence novel, and her writing flows with the same seamless elegance I remember. I wasn't surprised to learn that this book won the Governor General's Award in 1966. Laurence's work will continue to withstand the test of time.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unforgettable and True,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Jest of God (Mass Market Paperback)
A Jest of God epitomises Margaret Laurence's focus on characters whose stories are usually never told. The protagonist, Rachel, is a spinster school-teacher in small town Manitoba. She is stifled both by her closed community and by internalising their pettiness.
Rachel's inner-dialogue sets the claustophobic atmosphere, while also being funny, frustrating and moving. Laurence's portrait of an ordinairy woman coming to terms with herself and with surroundings is flawless and highly readable.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Margaret Lawrence does it once again.,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Jest of God (Paperback)
Although I find Margaret Lawrence to be an incredible author, all her books tend to be the same. Different people but always the same place, type of character, style. . . this is at least the case with all her books in the Manawaka Series. Stone Angel was my favorite, A jest of God was pretty good though.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
