Gabrielle Roy: Creation and Memory

Marguerite Andersen is a professor of French studies at the University
of Guelph.

This pleasant and respectful biography focuses on the connections
between Gabrielle Roy’s life and her writing. Particularly well
presented are Roy’s views of Canadian multiculturalism and her
deep-seated interest in social progress, pacifism, and politics.

Born in 1909, Roy lived in Manitoba until 1937. After spending two
years in England and France, she settled in Montreal, where she worked
as a freelance journalist. In 1945, she published her most famous novel,
The Tin Flute, which brought her many literary prizes, including a
Governor General’s Literary Award and the French Prix Fémina.

Linda and Bill Clemente have written a touching and sensitive biography
of a woman who managed to earn a comfortable living from her writing. A
more complete analysis of the parallel between creation and memory, as
promised by the subtitle, would have added to the book’s critical
value.