The novel, The Woman and the Miser (Un homme et son péché) is built aroud the characters of the 'habitant' userer Séraphin Poudrier and his attractive young wife Donalda. The impact of Grignon's characterization is so striking that the word 'Séraphin' has penetrated the common speech of French Canadians to mean a stingy avaricious person. / Séraphin's influence is all-pervasive; while following his sinuous career we get many intimate glimpses into the life of a typical Laurentian community. / Séraphin is obsessed by the love of money; he virtually starves his young wife and deprives her of medical care so that she dies prematurely. Into his calculating net fall many members of his family; even more of his neighbors are prey to his predatory money-lending practices. / As Roger Duhamel has written: 'Séraphin Poudrier is l'harpagon or Père Grandet of the back concessions. In effect a universal character has been situated in our own milieu. The book fully deserves the exceptional popular success which it has enjoyed.' It has been adapted for radio, television and screen and has been enjoyed by more than one generation of Canadians in a variety of media. / The author was a member of the École Littéraire de Montréal and was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1960.