A Season in the Life of Emmanuel: 09 (Exile Classics series) - Softcover

Following the life of newborn infant, Emmanuel, this great contemporary novel of Quebec exposes a painful history central to the new consciousness that emerged in the 1960s known as "the quiet revolution." The story of Emmanuel and his 15 brothers and sisters spotlights the grinding poverty under the mental regime of the Catholic Church at its least enlightened and most inescapable. This insightful narrative documents the hardships and cruelties of their social condition with dark humor and passionate imagination as they endeavor to survive harsh schools, dreary convents, and hunger.

In her third and most powerful novel, Marie-Claire Blais explores, with sober compassion and realistic detail, a season in the life of Emmanuel, the sixteenth child of a poverty-stricken farmer's family in rural Quebec.
First published in 1965, "A Season in the Life of Emmanuel established Blais's international reputation when it won the Prix France-Quebec and the Prix Medicis of France. The novel has been translated into 13 languages.