A Season in the Life of Emmanuel
A Season in the Life of Emmanuel (Une saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel) is a French Canadian novel by Marie-Claire Blais, published in 1965. The story is set on a large rural farm in Quebec, where a domineering mother named Antoinette rules the family. The book centers on Emmanuel’s birth and follows his teenage siblings—Pomme, Héloïse, Fortuné-Mathias (Septième), and Jean-Le Maigre—as they rebel against the family order. It explores moral and sexual boundaries and is part of a Quebec literary tradition that challenges traditional rural life.
The novel was adapted into a film by Claude Weisz in 1972. It won two major prizes in 1976: the Prix Médicis and the Prix Jean-Hamelin. In 2008, it was chosen for Le Combat des livres, with actor Serge Denoncourt defending it.
Originally written in French, the English edition, translated by Derek Coltman, appeared in 1966. Publishers included Grasset (France), Farrar, Straus and Giroux (US), and Jonathan Cape (UK). It was first published in Canada.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:37 (CET).