When Emmanuel is born, he is the sixteenth child of a poor Quebecois family. A Season in the Life of Emmanuel unfolds over the course of a season in his life, and chronicles the struggles of his family, in particular four of his older siblings, through his eyes. A heartbreaking and powerful depiction of what it means to be poor and struggling in church-dominated Quebec, A Season in the Life of Emmanuel is often considered Marie-Claire Blais' most important work.

A Season in the Life of Emmanuel won the Prix France-Québec and the Prix Médicis of France when it was published in the original French in 1965. It went on to be translated into 13 languages.