The Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception

Written by: Soucy, Gaetan
Translated by: Lederhendler, Lazer

East-end Montreal in the mid-1920s. A popular restaurant is razed by an arsonist. Seventy-five people perish in the inferno. While strolling with his wheelchair-ridden father, a man furtively salvages a charred icon from the ruins. He is Remouald Tremblay, a self-effacing bank clerk whose pocket holds a treasured rabbit's foot and whose memory contains an unspeakable hell.

Originally published in 1994 as L'Immaculee conception, this is the novel that established Gaetan Soucy as a powerful new literary force in Quebec. In it, he echoes the writing of Edgar Allan Poe and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Immaculate Conception was shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 2006.

East-end Montreal in the mid-1920s. A popular restaurant is razed by an arsonist. Seventy-five people perish in the inferno. While strolling with his wheelchair-ridden father, a man furtively salvages a charred icon from the ruins. He is Remouald Tremblay, a self-effacing bank clerk whose pocket holds a treasured rabbit's foot and whose memory contains an unspeakable hell.

Originally published in 1994 as L'Immaculee conception, this is the novel that established Gaetan Soucy as a powerful new literary force in Quebec. In it, he echoes the writing of Edgar Allan Poe and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Immaculate Conception was shortlisted for the Giller Prize in 2006.

Published By House of Anansi Press Inc — Jan 1, 2005
Specifications 336 pages | 5.25 in x 8.25 in
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Written By Gaetan Soucy has written four novels to acclaim in Canada and abroad. He teaches philosophy and lives in Montreal.
Written By
Gaetan Soucy has written four novels to acclaim in Canada and abroad. He teaches philosophy and lives in Montreal.

Short-listed, Governor General's Literary Awards: Translation, 2006

Short-listed, ReLit Awards - Novel, 2006

Short-listed, Scotiabank Giller Prize, 2006

Short-listed, QWF Prize for Translation, 2006

“It takes a short time to read and a long time to forget. It has the power of a Grimm fairy tale...Nothing is what it first seems.” —Toronto Star