| Roy Home |

Bonheur d'occasion was published in 1945, and became an immediate success. In the next two years, much would change for Gabrielle. In 1947, she won the Prix Fémina from France for Bonheur d'occasion, and the Governor General's award for the English translation, The Tin Flute. The same year also brought changes in her personal life, as she married Dr. Marcel Carbotte after three months of courtship. After their marriage, the two newlyweds went to France for three years for Marcel to pursue his medical studies. While back in Europe, Gabrielle took the opportunity to write once again at the Perfect's cottage; the very place where she had started her successful career ten years before. It was here that she began writing her favourite novel, La Petite Poule d'Eau (Where Nests the Water Hen), which was published in 1950 after her return to Canada.

Two years later, Gabrielle and Marcel moved to Quebec City, and in 1957, they bought a cottage in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, not far from their permanent home. This was where Gabrielle spent every summer until her death, and where she did much of her writing. The year 1957 also brought Gabrielle her second Governor General's award, this time for the English translation of Rue Deschambault (Street of Riches), a novel she published in 1955.

Understandably, it was necessary for Gabrielle to be isolated from others while she wrote. Yet, even when not embroiled in her writing, she disliked public appearances and kept her personal life as private as possible. Some have described her as antisocial, but she and Marcel seemed satisfied to spend time with close friends and those "who genuinely like us" (Letters to Bernadette, p. 17).

In the years following her second Governor General's award, Gabrielle concentrated on both her professional and personal writing. Since her mother's death, Gabrielle had been corresponding with her sister Bernadette, whom Gabrielle affectionately called Dédette. Even though their relationship only became close just before the cloistered nun's death in 1970, out of all her siblings, Gabrielle was closest to Bernadette. Gabrielle wrote "Dedette's death would have caused me less grief if I hadn't come to know her so well - yet I wouldn't for the world have been deprived of that grief" (Enchantment and Sorrow, p. 127).

For the next several years, Gabrielle was showered with awards and critical success, but it was not until 1978 that she won her third and final Governor General's award for Ces enfants de ma vie (Children of My Heart). In this work, her love for children and the happiness she derived from teaching are evident. This was her final novel, although a compilation of some of her work as a journalist, and several children's books followed this last book. Gabrielle's autobiography La Détresse et l'enchantement (Enchantment and Sorrow) was not published until 1984, a year after her death.

Gabrielle Roy died on July 13, 1983 of heart failure. Perhaps her exemplary work and analysis of the human condition were possible due to the fact that her life was filled with both enchantment and sorrow.

Sources
Roy, Gabrielle. Enchantment and Sorrow: The Autobiography of Gabrielle Roy. Translated by Patricia Claxton. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited, c1987. 414 p.
_________. Letters to Bernadette. Translated by Patricia Claxton. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited, c1990. 218 p.