Maria Chapdelaine

It takes a hardy people to survive farming the harsh lands of the French Canadian wilderness, and Maria Chapdelaine must choose either to remain Québécois in this unforgiving land that has broken her heart, or to pursue a softer urban life in foreign New England.French writer Louis Hémon wrote Maria Chapdelaine during the two years he lived in Quebec, and it’s based on his experiences working on a farm in the Lac Saint-Jean region where the novel is set. It was his only work published in his lifetime, as he died in a tragic train accident before learning of its success.The novel is described as a masterwork that was Canada’s entry into world literature and Quebec’s introduction to the rest of the Francophone world. An enduring work, it has served as the basis of four movies, and has been adapted into plays, an illustrated novel, a radio novel, a television series, and an opera. Maria Chapdelaine is a romance novel written in 1913 by the Breton writer Louis Hémon, who was then residing in Quebec.[1] Aimed at young French and Quebecois people, the book had been included in school curricula, translated, and has been extensively analyzed and adapted.[1]PlotAfter the man she loves dies suddenly, Maria must choose which of two suitors to marry.[2] One offers a change to life in the big city, but Maria decides to stay in the countryside.PublicationHémon, a journalist, came to rural Quebec to gather ideas for a novel. He supported himself by working on a farm. After hearing various stories from area residents, he wrote a romantic story, basing the character of the heroine on a young woman he had met.[4] In 1913, he submitted the manuscript for publication; he then left Quebec to travel to western Canada, but was hit by a train and died before learning of his book’s success. His book was illustrated by a famous French Canadian painter Clarence Gagnon.In 1921, the book was translated into English by Andrew McPhail.[5] A translation by W. H. Blake was published the same year.