A mocking and tender look at Quebec in the time of Maurice Duplessis, The Penniless Redeemer is Ferron’s huge canvas after the manner of Hieronymus Bosch, where devils and angels mingle with politicians, prelates and poets, where the great painter Borduas finds himself in purgatory with Cyrano de Bergerac, where Saint-Denys-Garneau goes to hell in search of a mysterious Eurydice, where young Frank Scott gets a social disease and turns Québécois.
The Penniless Redeemer
Le Ciel de Québec.
Translated by Ray Ellenwood.
“A major work of our literature.” —Victor-Lévy Beaulieu
“Original and obscure, inclusive and chaotic, the novel is a complete account of Quebec by the man who knew it better than any.” —Montreal Gazette
“A classic of Canadian literature, and the English rendering by Ray Ellenwood is a classic of Canadian literature as well.” —Alberto Manguel, CBC Morningside