A harrowing pathology of the soul, Mad Shadows centres on a family group: Patrice, the beautiful and narcissistic son; his ugly and malicious sister, Isabelle-Marie; and Louise, their vain and uncomprehending mother. These characters inhabit an amoral universe where beauty reflects no truth and love is an empty delusion. Each character is ultimately annihilated by their own obsessions.

Acclaimed and reviled when it exploded on the Quebec literary scene in 1959, Mad Shadows initiated a new era in Quebec fiction.


From the Paperback edition.

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Marie-Claire Blais was born in Quebec City in 1939. Blais’ first novel, Mad Shadows (1959), amounted to a literary revolution in Quebec. The book ushered in a new era in Quebec fiction with its nightmarish depiction of the obsessions and evils of society. Her writings, which have won international acclaim, have been translated into 13 languages.

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