Super Short Summary

Set in a small Manitoba town during the Great Depression, Canadian author Margaret Laurence’s novel A Jest of God (1966) tells the story of thirty-four-year-old spinster schoolteacher Rachel Cameron as she experiences a midlife awakening that has profound effects on her circumstances, her heart, and her future. Trapped by the confines of small-town life and her duties caring for her overbearing mother, Rachel embarks on an affair that opens a door to liberation—a newfound freedom that she must learn to accept on her own terms. The novel addresses themes such as emotional neglect, suicidal ideation, and crisis of faith.