A Woman of Valour

The Biography of Marie-Louise Bouchard Labelle

By Claire Trépanier
Categories: Philosophy, History, Canadian History, Religious Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Women’s Studies
Publisher: Athabasca University Press
Ebook (Kindle) : 9781771990707, 257 pages, April 2010
Paperback : 9781897425848, 255 pages, April 2010
Ebook (EPUB) : 9781897425855, 257 pages, April 2010

Table of contents

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Preface

Family Trees

Family of Georgianne Tremblay and her two spouses

Family of Marie-Louise Bouchard Labelle and Joseph Ray

Prologue

CHAPTER ONE: From Les Escoumins to Hanmer (1891–1906)

Marie-Louise Bouchard

Marie-Louise Labelle

Arrival in Hanmer

Life of Hanmer’s First Settlers

Marie-Louise’s Education

Primary School

Tough Love

And What of the Future?

Spiritual Life in the Hamlet

CHAPTER TWO: The New Arrival (1858–1906)

Father Joseph A. Roy

The Francophone Catholic Clergy in the Canadian West

Wolseley, Saskatchewan

Vernon, British Columbia

Hanmer, Ontario (August 1906)

First Meeting with Marie-Louise

CHAPTER THREE: The Turning Point (1906–1916)

Regular Meetings with Marie-Louise

Presbytery Maid?

Against All Comers

Flight

Impact of Their Departure

CHAPTER FOUR: Family Life (1916–1928)

New Identities

Ottawa

Rideau Park (May 1917)

Life as a Couple

Daily Life

Intellectual Life

Spiritual Life

First Return to Hanmer (November 1920)

Birth of Lorne

1921–1926

Gertrude’s First Communion

Facing Facts

Synchronicity

The Big Decision (1928)

CHAPTER FIVE: “Widow” with Three Children
(1928–1935)

Heartbreak

Unexpected Visits

Living Day to Day

Free to Explore Life

Napoléon’s Visit

The Crash, 24 October 1929

Family Ties

Homeowner

Impact of Joseph’s Departure

Religion after Joseph’s Departure

The French–English Question

Life During the Great Depression

Bank Street (1930–1932) and Sunnyside Street
(1932–1933)

Stanley Avenue (1933–1935)

Social Life

Convalescent Home

Kiosk

CHAPTER SIX: Living from Hand to Mouth (1935–1944)

James Street (1935–1936)

Lisgar Street (1936–1937)

Nepean Street (1937–1939)

Rideau Street, Corner of Chapel (1939)

Slater Street (1940)

Central Avenue (1941)

Acquaintance Changes (1942–1944)

CHAPTER SEVEN: Nanny (1944–1965)

Grandmother

Sewing and Knitting

In the Kitchen

 “Breaking Camp”

Mother-in-Law

Jake and the Kid

God

Back to Ottawa (1957–1965)

Ogilvy’s

Cinema

The Countess of Ségur

A Busy Room (1962–1965)

The Secret

CHAPTER EIGHT: Return to Her Roots (1960–1964)

Graduation (1960)

The Two Gossips

Inner Peace

The Trip to the Yukon

CHAPTER NINE: Old Age, Humour and Tenderness (1965–1970)

A Time to Relax

Always Keeping the Secret

Reminiscences of Long Ago

The Bloomers

The Braid

Thieves

CHAPTER TEN: Living in Peace (1970–1973)

Housewarming

A Time to Enjoy Life

Artist

A Time to Die

Epilogue

Postscript

Appendices

Appendix One: Arrival in Hanmer

Appendix Two: House in Hanmer

Appendix Three: Landowner

Appendix Four: Amour Immaculé / Immaculate Love

Family Documents

List of People Interviewed

List of People Who Helped Me in My Research

Abbreviated Chronology

Notes

Bibliography

Index

A Woman of Valour  tells the story of Marie-Louise
Bouchard Labelle and her relationship with the priest of her village
and the wide-ranging and long-lasting  burdens she bore as a
result of her secret love.

Description

The biography of Marie-Louise Bouchard Labelle tells of a young
Canadian woman from a humble background at the turn of the twentieth
century. She discovers love with the priest of her village, a man
thirty-three years her elder. After three children and fifteen years of
a happy life together, her spouse returns to the priesthood, just
before the Great Depression. Trépanier narrates this brave woman's
struggle to raise their children alone as a "widow," and
raises questions about the mandatory celibacy of Catholic priests and
the status of women in the Catholic Church.