Over the course of the short, compressed novel, Lou awakens to the sensuality of the natural world as well as to her sexuality, and this includes an intense - and strange - sexual relationship with the bear. Along with the old cottage and the old books and the spectacular landscape, the place also comes with a pet bear. Bear is the story of a reserved, unmarried Toronto librarian and archivist, Lou, who travels to an island estate in northern Ontario to sort through a collection of old books. Marian Engel’s most enduring and influential novel remains Bear (1976), which won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1982. She was the first chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada (1973–74). Over the course of her career, Marian Engel was also influential in the movement to enable Canadian writers to deal collectively with publishers and other institutions. A special issue of Room of One's Own (9:2, 1984) is devoted to Engel and features an interview, articles on her work, original writing by her and a bibliography. She also wrote two children’s books and two collections of short stories called Inside the Easter Egg (1975) and The Tattooed Woman (1985).

Among her seven novels are No Clouds of Glory (1968), Monodromos (1973) and Lunatic Villas (1981). In her novels and stories, Engel wrote with wit and grace about the everyday lives of contemporary people, especially women. She married (and eventually divorced) CBC broadcaster and successful mystery novel writer Howard Engel. She taught in the United States (University of Montana–Missoula), Canada (McGill University) and Cyprus (St.

She received a BA in language studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1955, an MA in Canadian literature at McGill University in Montréal, Québec, in 1957, and from 1960 to 1961 she studied French literature on a Rotary Foundation Scholarship at the Université d’Aix-Marseille in Aix-en-Provence, France. Marian Engel grew up in Galt, Sarnia and Hamilton, Ontario. An Officer of the Order of Canada, Marian Engel was a widely known and respected writer, particularly because of her internationally acclaimed, Governor General's Award–winning novel Bear (1976). Marian Engel (née Passmore), OC, writer (born in Toronto, ON died 16 February 1985 in Toronto, ON).

Marian engel's bear