Educated at United College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
She was awarded the C.C. (Companion of the Order of Canada) on December
17, 1971 for her services to Canadian Literature.
Her best-known works were set in the fictional town of Manawaka, inspired by her hometown of Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada.
In 1949, she moved to England with her husband, and later to British Somaliland, Gold Coast (now Ghana), then to Vancouver. The family moved back to England in 1962, and she settled in Ontario in 1973.