Au Revoir, L'Acadie

The Great Depression has dealt the cotton textile industry repeated blows. Mills are failing and unemployment is rampant. Irish and Franco-American workers in the fictional Southeastern New England town of Millbank, Massachusetts are desperate, but based on years of strife they distrust each other almost as much as they fear management. For decades, the owners have succeeded in keeping labor divided by ancestry. Au Revoir, L'Acadie describes the heroic efforts of working men and women of great character to overcome their long-held prejudices to become workers and Americans instead of merely disgruntled ethnic victims. As working conditions deteriorate and profits disappear, a violent strike ensues and a worker is killed. Labor leaders, management, clergy, and town fathers must find their way back from the abyss of anarchy to save their followers and the town.