THE FIRE DWELLERS

Stacey MacAindra is smart, witty, brave, and a bit desperate. Her marriage, her four children, and her happiness seem to be threatened by everything from well-meaning neighbors to her own sudden impulses for adventure. Her apparently staid suburban life involves an appalling abduction, strange romance, sudden death, and unexpected appearances by characters from other novels in the Manawaka series. Through all of this she somehow endures, and her story helps us to rediscover the richness and terror of the commonplace, as well as the pain, beauty - and humor - of being alive. Convinced that life has more to offer than the tedious routine of her days, Stacey MacAindra yearns to recover some of the passion of her early romance. In this extraordinary novel, Margaret Laurence has given us yet another unforgettable heroine: smart, witty, but overwhelmed by the responsibilities of raising four children and trying to love her overworked husband. "The Fire Dwellers" helps us to rediscover all the richness of the commonplace, as well as the pain, beauty--and humor--of being alive. "Stacey''s state of mind is revealed in a swift-flowing stream of dialogue, reaction, reproach, and nostalgia. . . . Laurence] is the best fiction writer in the Dominion and one of the best in the hemisphere."--"Atlantic"