| Black Robe | |
|---|---|
1st UK edition |
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| Author(s) | Brian Moore |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publisher | McClelland and Stewart (Canada) Dutton (US) Jonathan Cape (UK) |
| Publication date | 1985 |
| Pages | 246 pp (first Canadian and American editions) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7710-6449-7 (first Canadian edition), ISBN 0-525-24311-9 (first American edition) |
| OCLC Number | 16036820 |
| Preceded by | Cold Heaven |
| Followed by | The Colour of Blood |
Black Robe is a historical novel by Brian Moore based on the Jesuit missionaries in New France. It was published in 1985.
The novel takes place in the 17th century in New France. It follows Father Laforgue, a French Jesuit priest traveling up river to repopulate the mission to the Huron Indians. (The First Nations peoples called the priests "Black Robes".) The novel chronicles his interactions with the "heathen" tribes of Algonkian (friendly) and Iroquois (unfriendly), as well as his inner struggles of faith, as he travels upriver to bring salvation to the Hurons.
Moore juxtaposes the "superstitious" religious beliefs of the Native people with the Christian religious beliefs of Father Laforgue, which the reader can see very nearly mirror each other.
The book was adapted into the 1991 film of the same title directed by Bruce Beresford, for which Moore wrote the screenplay.
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