Kamouraska (novel)

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Kamouraska is a novel written by Anne Hébert and published in 1970. Written in French, the book has been translated into many languages.

Set in 19th century Quebec, it tells the story of a woman, Elisabeth D’Aulnières, who conspires with her lover, an American doctor, to kill her husband, the seigneur of Kamouraska. The narrative begins with Elisabeth beside the death bed of her second husband, Jérôme Rolland, a notary. The story is told in a series of flashbacks. The narrative begins in the third person, but later switches to the viewpoint of Elisabeth telling her story in the first person.

The novel is based on events surrounding the 1838 murder of Achille Taché, seigneur of Kamouraska, by George Holmes, an American doctor in love with Taché's wife, Josephte-Joséphine-Eléonore d'Estimauville.

In 1973 the novel was made into a film directed by Claude Jutra and starring Geneviève Bujold and Richard Jordan. Jutra and Hébert colllaborated on the screenplay.