Chrystine Brouillet shares with us her literary favorites of the moment.
Michèle Plomer / Justine Latour
leaf merchant
And to our boys, I thought as I finished this exceptional collection of interviews between Michèle Plomer and twelve extremely inspiring women: it is such books that can change mentalities and modify stereotypes. The portraits of Joséphine Bacon, Paule Baillargeon, Jeanne Lemire or Manon Barbeau, so alive under the author’s luminous pen, make us want to embrace life, to taste creation, to choose audacity, to be more listening to others and as frank as they are vigilant. The transparency with which these women answered the questions is already an example to follow; this book shines with its authenticity and its intelligence, its relevance and a benevolent energy.
Gautier Battistella
Grasset
Sole bonne femme, suckling pigs on the spit, confit ducks have delighted the customers of Yvonne and her grandson Paul who will take up the torch with so much enthusiasm and perseverance that he will succeed in obtaining the famous 3rd star in the Guide coveted by all chefs. Why does he commit suicide some time later?
By following Paul’s journey, we enter the harsh, terribly demanding, fanciful, cruel and breathtaking world of gastronomy and if this wonderful novel which awakens our taste buds with each chapter is unfortunately read too quickly, the memory of the work, the sacrifices craftsmen, creators will continue. And we will think of them the next time we sit down in a restaurant…
Don Winslow
Harper Collins Black
Rhone Island, 1986: docker Danny Ryan is loyal to the Murphy clan, the Irish who rule over part of the city even though he dreams of living elsewhere. Danny should have left the second he understood that Pam’s arrival on the arm of Paulie Moretti will dangerously excite Liam Murphy, to whom no one has ever refused anything.
Yes, Danny should have left town before the gang war raged. But readers would have been deprived of an excellent novel! We witness the relentless chain of events, where everything is unleashed to a terrifying extent, where the characters are as desperate as they are desperate. We can’t wait for the rest of the trilogy!
Greg Woodland
black belfond
In 1966 in a remote town in Australia, ex-super cop Mick Goodenough discovers the body of his dog. He was killed as were several other animals. And Mick knows that psychopaths exercise their cruelty on beasts before attacking humans: even if his superiors do not encourage him to look for the culprit, he persists. Even accepts the help of Hal, a teenager who is worried about the anonymous phone calls his mother receives…Who is whistling an Elvis song into the device?
Scary atmosphere, strange characters, very well-crafted story: it would be enough to love this novel, but there is the added bonus of this exceptional bond between Hal and his friend Allie, wonderful, rebellious, who embodies the clash of cultures between aborigines and whites. Irresistible!
Nita Prose
Calmann Levy
Young Molly works at the posh Regency Grand Hotel as a maid. She loves this job, which she does to perfection, thinking of the wise advice of her beloved grandmother. What would she have thought of Molly’s discovery in luxury suite 301? How did Mr. Black die? And why is the safe empty?
This novel is pure delight from the first to the last line! Molly enchants us with her candor, her just and disarming logic and her big heart, as well as the myriad of colorful characters and the rhythm of the plot as energetic as Molly’s feather duster. A little gem!
Victoria Mas
Albin Michael
Sister Anne, a nun with the Daughters of Charity in Paris, receives the confidences of a sister who dreamed that the Virgin would appear to her in Brittany. She therefore leaves for the north of Finistère, hoping that the prophecy will come true, that she will finally be appeased. But it is a teenager, Isaac, who sees the Blessed Virgin, upsetting all the people of the village. And Sister Anne who feels robbed…Will there be a miracle or not?
“Le bal des fous”, the previous novel by Victoria Mas, was such a success that it could have prompted the author to write a similar story, but here she favored a dreamlike world, a ghostly atmosphere that enchants us as much than the descriptions of the mist that shrouds the wounds and doubts of the characters and the immutable movement of the tides.
Collective
Ulysses
If in 1970, only fifty pilgrims obtained a certificate attesting to the authenticity of their journey, there were 347,000 people to be issued the compostella in 2019: the enthusiasm for these mythical paths is evident! This guide written by members of the Association du Québec à Compostelle is the tool that will help those who are tempted by this adventure. From the history of Compostela to the different routes, from advice for walking to information on accommodation, places to see and many questions of a practical or spiritual nature, everything has been thought out to facilitate this extraordinary experience. And the guide is very small, ready to slip into a backpack!