A harrowing pathology of the soul, Mad Shadows centres on a family
group: Patrice, the beautiful and narcissistic son; his ugly and
malicious sister, Isabelle-Marie; and Louise, their vain and
uncomprehending mother. These characters inhabit an amoral universe
where beauty reflects no truth and love is an empty delusion. Each
character is ultimately annihilated by their own obsessions.
Acclaimed and reviled when it exploded on the Quebec literary scene in
1959, Mad Shadows initiated a new era in Quebec fiction.