Menaud maître-draveur

Menaud maître-draveur (1937), a novel by Félix-Antoine SAVARD, is the last classic example of the didactic Québec roman du terroir, "novel of the land," basing its lyrical descriptions of rural life and its appeal to colonize the interior upon the author's first-hand experiences as a pastor in new settlements near La Malbaie. Savard revisits MARIA CHAPDELAINE (1916), incorporating excerpts into his novel and effectively writing a sequel to Hémon's romance. A farmer who prefers logging, Menaud bemoans the exploitation of Québec's resources by unnamed strangers, encouraging his daughter Marie to marry le Luçon rather than le Délié, who would sell his inheritance to "foreigners." Following his son's death in a log jam, Menaud, rendered insane by his quest to confront the enemy, obsessively tracks the elusive le Délié. Savard revised his poetic novel in 1938, 1944, 1960 and 1964; Alan Sullivan translated the first edition as Boss of the River (1947), Richard Howard the 1964 text as Master of the River (1976).

Author MICHÈLE LACOMBE