Éric Mathieu, The Little Fox of Mayerville. QC Fiction, Québec, 2019. Translated from the French by Peter McCambridge. ARC My whole childhood was nothing but dread, drifting, and disappointment. And yet I wanted to be happy. These opening words of … Continue reading
Sylvie Chaput, Isabelle’s Notebooks. Translated from the French by Peter Vranckx and Daniel Sloate. Guernica Editions, Canada, 2002; 19961 I came across this novel, by an author and in an imprint I’d not heard of, in a charity bookshop last … Continue reading
Maude Veilleux, Prague. Translated from the French by Aleshia Jensen and Aimee Wall. QC Fiction, Montréal, 2019. So far I’ve resisted reading the obvious candidates in the recently revived fashion for autofiction – the likes of Rachel Cusk, Sheila Heti, … Continue reading
Laurence Leduc-Primeau, In the End They Told Them All to Get Lost, translated by Natalia Hero, is published by QC Fiction of Québec this month – my thanks to them for this ARC. It’s not their strongest title in what’s been … Continue reading
Charles Quimper, In Every Wave. QC Fiction, available from 1 November 2018. First published 2017 as Marée montante In a recent interview in the online magazine Québec Reads Charles Quimper was asked: What, if anything, would you say defines Quebec … Continue reading
Just been into town for the last time before a trip to Catalonia, and couldn’t resist the allure of the books in charity shops. Here’s what I came back with: … Continue reading
Eric Dupont, Songs for the Cold of Heart. QC Fiction (an imprint of Baraka Books). Paperback. Published 1 July, 2018. First published in French as La Fiancée américaine by Marchand de feuilles. Translated by Peter McCambridge On the first page … Continue reading
Who writes letters any more? It’s a pity so many of us don’t. An inherited box of letters provides the McGuffin for this novel. No one nowadays will be able to reconstruct a history and be transformed as a consequence, … Continue reading
A character says in the story ‘Couch’: ‘Life isn’t supposed to hurt all the time.’ My previous post gave an introduction/background to this collection of 37 very short stories by two authors, but translated by 37 different translators. The identity … Continue reading
I Never Talk About It: QC Fiction, 2017. First published in 2012 as Chaque automne j’ai envie de mourir by Les éditions du Septentrion ‘Traduttore, traditore’. Most books of translated fiction foreground (not surprisingly) the original author; the translator – if they’re even … Continue reading