Laurence had lived in three different continents and showed bias towards each in her writings. Laurence wrote a great number of stories that are set in Canada, a country where she spent a great amount of her life. After spending time in Ghana and Somaliland, she was inspired to pen This Side Jordan, her first novel, as well as The Prophet's Camel Bell, which was a “part travelogue, part autobiography, part celebration of human nature” . However, she also lived in England, and did not publish much writing with England as a setting. For a place where she spent a lot of time, it is surprising that Laurence did not pay much attention to England in her stories. In comparison to her writings on Africa, her descriptions of England are rather bleak. For example, on page 10 of The Prophet’s Camel Bell, the most imagery there is for England throughout the whole book is the following: “She was delayed, and we, almost penniless, walked the slippery streets of the chilly port, turning up our coat collars against the blowing snow and searching near the docks for a sailors’ café where we could afford to eat.” Now, Laurence wrote this particular description very nicely; in fact, it makes for a vivid image of what Laurence’s surroundings were at the time. The bleakness of this passage comes from the adjectives she employs: “slippery streets” and “chilly ports” do not sound inviting.
