Remembered today as the author of one of the earliest French-Canadian novels, Georges Boucher de Boucherville (whose full first name was Pierre-Georges-Prévost) was the son of Pierre-Amable Boucher de Boucherville, Seigneur of Boucherville and member of the Executive Council of Lower Canada, and his wife, née Marguerite-Emilie Sabrevois de Bleury. Thus, on both sides of his family, the writer was related to two of the most prominent and powerful families in Quebec. Georges was educated at the Montreal Seminary and admitted to the bar in January 1837.

In 1835, while still a law student, he published two short stories. "La Tour de Trafalgar" and "Louise Chawinikisique," in L'Ami du Peuple. The latter work was accorded first prize in a competition for Canadian writers sponsored by that newspaper. The stories differ markedly from each other. "La Tour de Trafalgar" is a tale of ghosts, murder, and vengeance...