Maria Chapdelaine

In July, the forests of Québec bloom with wild berries. From July to September, many families devote whole days to gathering blueberries, among them the Chapdelaines. On the eve of the Feast of St. Anne, several visitors attend the Chapdelaine home, including Eutrope. His brother Egide works seasonally as a log driver, moving lumber downstream via the Peribonka, and Eutrope relates the difficulties of running their farm alone. Madame Chapdelaine reassures him that things will get easier when his brother returns, predicting that they will have a profitable farm in under two years.

Edwige Legare scoffs at Eutrope’s complaints, insisting that young Québécois don’t know the meaning of hard work. He tells the group that when the Québec railway was first built 30 years ago, he and other young men chopped wood for 14 months straight in the undeveloped wilderness. Reflecting on the ease of the railway journey, the group is “filled with naïve wonder” (26).

Two more visitors arrive: Ephrem Surprenant and his nephew Lorenzo. Lorenzo has emigrated from Québec to the United States, where he works in a factory. He has returned to Québec to sell his late father’s farm. Samuel asks whether Lorenzo has any desire to farm the land himself.