The Story

Arthur is a farm kid with his head in the clouds. He leaves his quiet village for Montreal, convinced he'll find success and excitement. What he finds instead is a cold, confusing world. He scrambles for any work he can get, faces rejection, and watches his savings disappear. The people he meets are often looking out for themselves, not a wide-eyed newcomer. The book follows his struggle to survive without losing himself completely in a city that doesn't care if he makes it or not.

Why You Should Read It

This isn't a glamorous historical novel. It's raw and honest. Bessette, writing in the early 1900s, captures a side of city life we don't often see in fiction from that time—the grind, the loneliness, the small defeats. Arthur feels incredibly real. You root for him, you get frustrated with his bad decisions, and you ache for his disappointments. The book asks hard questions about ambition and what we sacrifice to fit in.

Final Verdict

Perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven stories and a strong sense of place. If you liked the gritty realism of authors like Émile Zola or the quiet desperation in some of Sherwood Anderson's work, you'll connect with this. It's a short, powerful punch of a novel about a time of massive change, seen through the eyes of one very relatable young man trying to find his footing.