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