Maria Chapdelaine

A Tale of French Canada

ByLouis Hemon

Translated byW.H. Blake

Michael Gnarowski

Published March 2005

Paperback

^$ 14.95

Paperback

^$ 14.95

E-mail me when this book is available

Description

Maria Chapdelaine, the quintessential novel of the rugged life of early French-Canadian colonists, is based on the author’s experiences as a hired hand in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area. A young woman living with her family on the frontier in Quebec, Maria endures the hardships of isolation and climate, and chooses between three suitors: a trapper, a farmer, and a Parisian immigrant. Powerful in its simplicity, this novel captures the essence of the virtues of faith and tenacity that are the key ingredients of survivance. Translated into many languages and with some two hundred editions, it is enshrined as a classic of Canadian letters. A new introduction provides insights into Hmon’s life.

Contributors

Louis Hemon

Louis Hemon was born in 1880 and raised in Paris, where he qualified for the French Colonial Service. Unwilling to accept a posting to Africa, Hemon embarked on a career as a sports writer and moved to London. He sailed for Quebec in 1911 settling initially in Montreal. He wrote Maria Chapdelaine during his time working at a farm in the Lac Saint-Jean region and died when he was struck by a train at Chapleau, Ontario in 1913.

View Author Page

W.H. Blake

View Author Page

Michael Gnarowski

Michael Gnarowski has written for Encyclopedia Americana, The Canadian Encyclopedia, The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Biography, and the Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry. Gnarowski is professor emeritus at Carleton University in Ottawa.

View Author Page

Book Details

Paperback
March 2005
6x9 in
132 pp
9781894908030