Audiobook

Maria Chapdelaine (version 2)

The novel Maria Chapdelaine portrays life in rural Quebec at the beginning of the 20th century. Published first in French in 1913, it is a famous example of the genre known as "novels of the land" ("romans du terroir"). These stories sought to reinforce and preserve the cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage of French Canada — a heritage at risk because of French Canada's historical situation as a conquered enclave inside English North America. Maria is a young woman whose family works the farm they have cleared from the harsh Quebec forest — "a land that has no pity." As young men seek her hand in marriage, she must clarify her own identity, struggling not only with the problem of selecting from among her suitors, but also with her relationship to the land and to her heritage. The author Louis Hémon had immigrated from France just two years before writing this novel, and worked on a farm in the Lac Saint-Jean region where the story is set. Hémon died accidentally before seeing his novel in print. (Summary by Bruce Pirie)

Year of Publication: 1921Genres: Culture & Heritage Fiction , Published 1900 onward

Running Time: 05 hours 19 minutes 29 seconds

#	Chapter Name
1	Peribonka Bruce Pirie	29:41
2	Home in the Clearing Bruce Pirie	19:08
3	François Passes By Bruce Pirie	13:38
4	Wild Land Bruce Pirie	18:27
5	The Vows Bruce Pirie	30:20
6	The Stuff of Dreams Bruce Pirie	15:31
7	A Meager Reaping Bruce Pirie	5:05
8	Entrenched Against Winter Bruce Pirie	10:31
9	One Thousand Aves Bruce Pirie	20:45
10	Straying Tracks Bruce Pirie	23:03
11	The Interpreter of God Bruce Pirie	12:33
12	Love Bearing Gifts Bruce Pirie	29:09
13	Love Bearing Chains Bruce Pirie	16:01
14	Into the Deep Silence Bruce Pirie	37:51
15	That We Perish Not Bruce Pirie	36:05
16	Pledged to the Race Bruce Pirie	1:41