Roy, Gabrielle

▪ Canadian novelist

married name  Gabrielle Carbotte 

born March 25, 1909, St. Boniface, Man., Can.

died July 13, 1983, Quebec

 French Canadian novelist praised for her skill in depicting the hopes and frustrations of the poor.

      Roy taught school in Manitoba for a time, studied drama in Europe (1937–39), and then returned to Canada, settling in Montreal, where she worked as a journalist. Her studies of poverty-stricken working-class people in the cities include Bonheur d'occasion (1945; The Tin Flute) and Alexandre Chenevert, caissier (1954; The Cashier). Some of her novels, such as La Petite Poule d'eau (1950; Where Nests the Waterhen) and Rue Deschambault (1955; Street of Riches), deal with isolated rural life in Manitoba. She also wrote a book of semiautobiographical stories, La Route d'Altamont (1966; The Road Past Altamont), and a novel based on her experiences as a schoolteacher, Ces enfants de ma vie (1977; Children of My Heart). An autobiography, La Détresse et l'enchantement (Enchantment and Sorrow), was published posthumously in 1984.

Additional Reading

The authoritative biography is François Ricard, Gabrielle Roy (1999; originally published in French, 1996).

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