Margaret Laurence was born Jean Margaret Wemyss on 18 July 1926 in Neepawa, Manitoba. She graduated with a B.A. in English from United College (now the University of Winnipeg) and became a reporter for the Winnipeg Citizen. In 1949, Laurence moved to England with her husband and then to Africa, returning to Canada in 1957. In 1962, she left her husband and moved back to England and didn't return to Canada until the early 1970s. In 1986, Laurence was diagnosed with lung cancer and she committed suicide at her home in Lakefield, Ontario on 5 January 1987.