• Age: 15 to 18
• Grade: 10 to 12

Un homme et son péché is a novel by Claude-Henri Grignon, published in 1933, and one of Quebec's best-known literary works.
The story takes place during the colonization of the North (the Laurentian region of Quebec) in the late 19th century (c. 1885-90), near Sainte-Adèle. A miserly, unscrupulous man, Séraphin Poudrier dominates the small community, exploiting the poor and making the inhabitants of the Sainte-Adèle parish tremble. His wife, the gentle, pious and courageous Donalda, is the only living thing he seems to truly love. When Donalda falls ill, Séraphin refuses to seek a doctor's care, fearing it will cost him too much. Upon his wife's death, Séraphin places her in a coffin too small for her and buries her in the Poudrier lot at the cemetery.
Such extreme avarice does not go unpunished. Ultimately, and dramatically, Séraphin is the author of his own demise.

Claude-Henri Grignon's profile page

Yves Brunelle is a member of the Association of Canadian and Quebec Literatures and the Atlantic Canada Institute. Brunelle has taught both French and English, and was Program Director for Radio-Canada in Moncton and producer of "Public Affairs" for CBC Halifax.

Yves Brunelle's profile page