The writing of 'Alexadnre Chenevert': Irony and idyll (Gabrielle Roy)

The central panel of a triptych that includes Bonheur d'occasion and La pet ite poule d'eau, Alexandre Chenevert is a hybrid novel, half-realistic, hal f-idyllic. On the basis of five short stories (some unpublished), this arti cle suggests a reading of Gabrielle Roy in which Roy appears torn between c ondemning her characters and viewing them with compassion. The genesis and ultimate shape of the eponymous character, Alexandre Chenevert, already exi st in latent form in these stories.