The Torrent is a collection of novellas and short stories written over a period extending from 1938 to 1962. Any one of these by itself would be outstanding. One thinks particularly of the novella “A Grand Marriage.” As one critic has remarked: “Included under the title, The Torrent, are a group of stories that are charming, except for “The Torrent” itself, which strikes one with a devastating impact, with an intensity that is overwhelming. This story is one of the most powerful… in the whole of Canadian Literature.” It concerns the relationship between an ambitious mother and her natural son. The background of course, is a small Quebec community with its morally repressive environment.

When she completed The Torrent, Anne Hébert was unable to find a publisher in Quebec and the book was published in France. To quote the author: “The violence of The Torrent shocked them; one didn’t publish that kind of literature; it wouldn’t well.” As it turned out, The Torrent won the prize of the Royal Academy of Belgium for the best book in the French language by a non-Belgian, or non-French writer: that is to say, a Swiss, North African or Canadian writer.

Contents:

• The Torrent
• The Coral Frock
• Springtime for Catherine
• The House on the Esplanade
• A Grand Marriage
• The Death of Stella