news | Wednesday May 6, 2015
Our new arrival is As Always, the memoir of Madeleine Gagnon, now translated into English by Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott. This is an account of a life well lived, told with candour, wisdom, and an inextinguishable sense of wonder. In the words of Manon Trépanier of Radio-Canada, “It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything as beautiful and luminous as this book.”
There is something for every reader in As Always – but especially for Canadians intrigued by the changed and changing culture in Quebec, and the evolution of feminism in our nations. Through personal stories and vignettes, Gagnon offers windows into the Quiet Revolution, the road to equality of the sexes, the establishment of Canadian and especially Quebecois literary culture, and a direct and nuanced discourse of sexuality and gender. With a wedding in Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral, a seemingly idyllic farm childhood, and travels across the Atlantic by steamer, this is the story of how a brilliant ingenue became one of the most important literary figures in Canada. (Plus: absolutely charming photographs!)
As Always: Memoir of a Life in Writing is now available for $22.95.