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La couleur du temps, ou l'incroyable histoire de Mary Gallagher
360 pages
Published March 5, 2026
About the author
Éric Dupont
16 books112 followersEric Dupont est né à Amqui (Gaspésie) en 1970. Il est l'auteur de Voleurs de sucre
(2004), La Logeuse (2006), Bestiaire (2007) et La Fiancée américaine (2012). Il enseigne la traduction à l'Université McGill. // Eric Dupont is an author, teacher and translator who lives in Montreal. His French-language novel La Logeuse won the Combat des livres. He was a finalist for both the Prix littéraire France-Québec and the Prix des cinq continents. He was the winner of the Prix littéraire des collégiens and the Prix des libraires. His fourth novel, The American Fiancée, published in Canada as Songs for the Cold of Heart by QC Fiction, was on the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist and was a finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for translation. (Photo credit: Justine Latour.)
(2004), La Logeuse (2006), Bestiaire (2007) et La Fiancée américaine (2012). Il enseigne la traduction à l'Université McGill. // Eric Dupont is an author, teacher and translator who lives in Montreal. His French-language novel La Logeuse won the Combat des livres. He was a finalist for both the Prix littéraire France-Québec and the Prix des cinq continents. He was the winner of the Prix littéraire des collégiens and the Prix des libraires. His fourth novel, The American Fiancée, published in Canada as Songs for the Cold of Heart by QC Fiction, was on the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist and was a finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for translation. (Photo credit: Justine Latour.)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 2, 2026
3.5
There's a lot to say about this book that, despite being only ~400 pages packs a huge, albeit confounding punch.
It's a book full of contradictions: it's bleak but whimsical (a 15-year-old from 1967 is transported to 1870s Montreal where he has to suffer the barrages of priests and nuns and also work in a brothel ... but hey, the main character was born from inside a melon!); it's fascinating and frustrating, the latter due to its inability, in the end, to answer the question it brings up itself: why did Aime have to be transported back to the 1870s? It mentions this (i.e. that he "had" to be transported), but never answers it. Why? So that Jacinthe's theory of the color of time being red could be confirmed? So that the rest of the characters in Aime's family could be born? Why did Mary have to do this?
But despite this and a few other unanswered questions as to the why and how, what I did thoroughly enjoy was the book's exploration of time and its presentation of all three aspects of it: past, present and future. The past being "Oldtimey Montreal" of the 1870s; the present being 1967 and the Expo; and the future being the technological advances that said Expo promises, the advancements that have all the characters set in the 60s looking towards the future.
The thesis centres around time and what it really is and how we all experience it and perceive it in different ways, but it falls short in terms of answering the why and how. Maybe we're not supposed to concretely know the how, but I sure would love a more succinct ending rather than the abrupt one we're left with. Mary's ghost still lingers in Montreal, but so do the multitude of questions surrounding her life.
There's a lot to say about this book that, despite being only ~400 pages packs a huge, albeit confounding punch.
It's a book full of contradictions: it's bleak but whimsical (a 15-year-old from 1967 is transported to 1870s Montreal where he has to suffer the barrages of priests and nuns and also work in a brothel ... but hey, the main character was born from inside a melon!); it's fascinating and frustrating, the latter due to its inability, in the end, to answer the question it brings up itself: why did Aime have to be transported back to the 1870s? It mentions this (i.e. that he "had" to be transported), but never answers it. Why? So that Jacinthe's theory of the color of time being red could be confirmed? So that the rest of the characters in Aime's family could be born? Why did Mary have to do this?
But despite this and a few other unanswered questions as to the why and how, what I did thoroughly enjoy was the book's exploration of time and its presentation of all three aspects of it: past, present and future. The past being "Oldtimey Montreal" of the 1870s; the present being 1967 and the Expo; and the future being the technological advances that said Expo promises, the advancements that have all the characters set in the 60s looking towards the future.
The thesis centres around time and what it really is and how we all experience it and perceive it in different ways, but it falls short in terms of answering the why and how. Maybe we're not supposed to concretely know the how, but I sure would love a more succinct ending rather than the abrupt one we're left with. Mary's ghost still lingers in Montreal, but so do the multitude of questions surrounding her life.
Displaying 1 of 1 review