The First Garden

The book that I recieved was in good conditioin. It was ancient and slightly used but thats what was expected.

Like the previous reviewer, this ranks as one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It addresses so many themes: the question of identity, the relationship between one's name and one's identity, the danger of sentimentalising the past, the oppression of women in society, the dangers of false faith in religion, the list is endless. However, I have mainly read the novel as being about the relationship between France and Quebec and the growing estrangement between the two, as reflected in the immense distance between Flora Fantanges (representing France) and her daughter Maud (representing Quebec). I'd be very interested to know if people from Quebec would share this view!

This book is one of the best that I have read. I read it in French, but I am sure that it is great in English too. Hebert combines the struggle of Quebec and English, her main character's story, intertextuality and life in theatre for a complex, interesting, easy to read, and difficult to understand, novel. Very good and can be read on many levels. I recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting, intelligent book that is fun with a mysterious plot. (In a way it is like 12 Monkey or La Jetee: you don't understand what happened until the next scene, and you don't understand the book truly until it is over.)