"My God! Pardon me if I have dared to make sacred things serve a profane love; but it is you who have put passion into our hearts; they are not crimes-I feel this in the purity of my intentions." -Agatha, writing to Zoe In pre-revolutionary Paris, a young woman falls for a handsome young priest. To be near him, she dresses as a man, enters his seminary, and is invited to become a fully ordained Catholic priest-a career forbidden to women then as now. Sylvain Marechal's epistolary novella offers a biting rebuke to religious institutions and a hypocritical society; its views on love, marriage, class, and virtue remain relevant today. The book ends in La Nouvelle France, which became part of British-run Canada during Marechal's lifetime. With thorough notes and introduction by Sheila Delany, this first translation of Marechal's novella, La femme abbe, brings a little-known but revelatory text to the attention of readers interested in French history and literature, history of the novel, women's studies, and religious studies.

Book Information
ISBN 9781772121230
Author Sylvain Marechal
Format Paperback
Page Count 104
Imprint University of Alberta Press
Publisher University of Alberta Press
Weight(grams) 160g