The rise and fall of a bourgeois family: such is the theme of this novel, harsh, moving, and tumultuous, which in 1969 affirmed the full development of the young Quebec novel. Pierre, the narrator, is confronted very early on with love, violence, and quarrels over a story of heritage. Like his father Édouard, he will experience the collapse of bourgeois values, the worst uncertainties and will finally assert his independence from this tormented world. Pierre’s confession is poignant. It reveals an original talent, vigorous and of a rare psychological depth.