Pagine1909–1983 · Saint-Boniface, Manitoba · also known as Roy
Gabrielle Roy, a Franco-Manitoban teacher, wrote The Tin Flute (Bonheur d’occasion, 1945), a portrait of a poor family in Montreal’s Saint-Henri district during World War II. It won France’s Prix Femina — the first Canadian book to do so — and helped launch modern Quebec literature. Where Nests the Water Hen and Street of Riches draw on her prairie childhood.
Begin with The Tin Flute.
Part of our Canadian Classics reading list — print it, email it to yourself or share it.
Susanna Moodie · L. M. Montgomery · Stephen Leacock · Margaret Laurence · Alice Munro · Margaret Atwood
Gabrielle Roy, a Franco-Manitoban teacher, wrote The Tin Flute (Bonheur d’occasion, 1945), a portrait of a poor family in Montreal’s Saint-Henri district during World War II. It won France’s Prix Femina — the first Canadian book to do so — and helped launch modern Quebec literature.
The Tin Flute is usually considered Gabrielle Roy’s best-known work, followed by Street of Riches, Where Nests the Water Hen.
Most readers start with The Tin Flute.
Both refer to the same writer.
Gabrielle Roy’s books are still under copyright, so they are not free to download, but many can be borrowed free from your public library or Open Library — we link to them below.