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Suzanne. Una donna in fuga
Suzanne Meloche era un'artista. Negli anni Cinquanta, aveva messo su famiglia con il pittore francese Maurice Barbeau poi, all'improvviso, se n'era andata, abbandonando i due figli piccoli. Alla sua morte, la nipote decide di dare consistenza alle proprie radici, ricostruendo l'identità di quello che fino a quel momento era stato solo un fantasma odiato. Con l'aiuto di un investigatore ripercorre le tracce, quasi impercettibili, lasciate negli anni da una poetessa ribelle, poi raccoglitrice di barbabietole in Ontario e pittrice nell'atelier newyorkese di Jackson Pollock, postina nella penisola della Gaspésie e militante nel movimento antisegregazionista dei Freedom Riders. Una donna attraente e contraddittoria, che ha attraversato il Novecento e alcune delle sue tempeste, che è stata amata e amante, sempre dolorosamente libera, in fuga dalle convenzioni e da un destino apparentemente segnato. Questo romanzo impetuoso e insieme delicato ci permette di conoscere una figura femminile indimenticabile e di riflettere sulle ferite dell'abbandono e sul valore della riconciliazione.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
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About the author
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
15 books336 followersAnaïs Barbeau-Lavalette is a Canadian novelist, film director, and screenwriter from Quebec. Her films are known for their "organic, participatory feel." Barbeau-Lavalette is the daughter of filmmaker Manon Barbeau and cinematographer Philippe Lavalette, and the granddaughter of artist Marcel Barbeau.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 862 reviews
May 4, 2021
“The first time you saw me, I was one hour old. You were old enough to have courage. Fifty, maybe. It was at St. Justine Hospital. I had just come into the world. I already had a big appetite. I drank her milk like I make love now, like it’s the last time. My mother had just given birth to me. Her daughter, her firstborn.”
I grew up in the same house as my maternal grandmother, from the time of my birth straight through my early college years. She was much like a second mother. Although I knew it was unusual for most grandmothers to live with their grandchildren, I couldn’t imagine growing up any other way. I certainly cannot comprehend what it would have been like to have a grandmother living and breathing on this earth whom I would never lay eyes on but two or three times in my life. Yet, that is exactly what happened to Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. This is a fictionalized account of the author’s grandmother, Suzanne Meloche Barbeau, pieced together after Suzanne’s death.
“You had to die for me to take an interest in you. For you to turn from a ghost to a woman. I don’t love you yet. But wait for me. I’m coming.”
I sucked this story right down, from the beautiful prose to the varied settings to the fast pace. Somehow, Barbeau-Lavalette managed to encapsulate the entire life of an enigmatic woman in little more than two hundred pages. By establishing a timeline from a paper trail of factual evidence regarding Suzanne’s life, she shaped an incredible story of artistry, longing, estrangement, and abandonment. I’m not always a fan of second-person narration, but somehow it created a feeling of intimacy and immediacy here. It’s as if the granddaughter is writing a letter to her grandmother and in the process she reaches some form of forgiveness. You see, Suzanne abandoned her three year old daughter, Mousse (Anaïs’ mother), and her infant son, François. Anaïs grew up without the love of a grandmother neither near nor far.
Suzanne was an intelligent, creative young woman born in Ottawa, Canada. She saw her family suffer through the Depression. She went to college in Montreal, seizing opportunities as they came along, always on the move and lookout for the next best thing. She hooked up with a group of other artists, known as Les Automatistes, dissident artists based in Montreal during the 1940s. Among them was Marcel Barbeau, later to become her husband and father to her two children. Suzanne migrated from Ottawa to Montreal to the Gaspé Peninsula. After giving up her children, she spent time in New York City during the Civil Rights Movement, in Parchman Prison following an arrest after the Freedom Ride in the US South, and in Europe. She never seemed to settle down and only on occasion did she reach out to speak briefly to her daughter, Mousse. I felt it a rather sad existence in many ways, with her often longing for her daughter’s touch. For some reason I never got the impression that Suzanne was a happy woman. But that is partly due to the fact that her granddaughter never really knew her, never understood if she was satisfied. She seemed always to be looking for that place where she could be truly content.
“Now you know that there is somewhere else out there for you. What you don’t know is that there will always be somewhere else, and never the same place. That will be your undoing.”
This book was a wonderful surprise. Upon finishing, I went to the author’s Goodread’s page to see if she had anything else I could pick up. Unfortunately, the few offerings I did note don’t appear to be offered in English. I guess I’ll consider myself quite lucky that this book was translated from the French, because it was an exquisite piece of writing and a fascinating account of a woman who did not want to settle for an ordinary life.
“Your absence is part of me, and it shaped me. You are the one to whom I owe the murky water that feeds my roots, which run deep. So you continue to exist. In my unquenchable thirst to love. And in my need to be free, like an absolute necessity. But free with them. I am free together, me.”
I grew up in the same house as my maternal grandmother, from the time of my birth straight through my early college years. She was much like a second mother. Although I knew it was unusual for most grandmothers to live with their grandchildren, I couldn’t imagine growing up any other way. I certainly cannot comprehend what it would have been like to have a grandmother living and breathing on this earth whom I would never lay eyes on but two or three times in my life. Yet, that is exactly what happened to Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. This is a fictionalized account of the author’s grandmother, Suzanne Meloche Barbeau, pieced together after Suzanne’s death.
“You had to die for me to take an interest in you. For you to turn from a ghost to a woman. I don’t love you yet. But wait for me. I’m coming.”
I sucked this story right down, from the beautiful prose to the varied settings to the fast pace. Somehow, Barbeau-Lavalette managed to encapsulate the entire life of an enigmatic woman in little more than two hundred pages. By establishing a timeline from a paper trail of factual evidence regarding Suzanne’s life, she shaped an incredible story of artistry, longing, estrangement, and abandonment. I’m not always a fan of second-person narration, but somehow it created a feeling of intimacy and immediacy here. It’s as if the granddaughter is writing a letter to her grandmother and in the process she reaches some form of forgiveness. You see, Suzanne abandoned her three year old daughter, Mousse (Anaïs’ mother), and her infant son, François. Anaïs grew up without the love of a grandmother neither near nor far.
Suzanne was an intelligent, creative young woman born in Ottawa, Canada. She saw her family suffer through the Depression. She went to college in Montreal, seizing opportunities as they came along, always on the move and lookout for the next best thing. She hooked up with a group of other artists, known as Les Automatistes, dissident artists based in Montreal during the 1940s. Among them was Marcel Barbeau, later to become her husband and father to her two children. Suzanne migrated from Ottawa to Montreal to the Gaspé Peninsula. After giving up her children, she spent time in New York City during the Civil Rights Movement, in Parchman Prison following an arrest after the Freedom Ride in the US South, and in Europe. She never seemed to settle down and only on occasion did she reach out to speak briefly to her daughter, Mousse. I felt it a rather sad existence in many ways, with her often longing for her daughter’s touch. For some reason I never got the impression that Suzanne was a happy woman. But that is partly due to the fact that her granddaughter never really knew her, never understood if she was satisfied. She seemed always to be looking for that place where she could be truly content.
“Now you know that there is somewhere else out there for you. What you don’t know is that there will always be somewhere else, and never the same place. That will be your undoing.”
This book was a wonderful surprise. Upon finishing, I went to the author’s Goodread’s page to see if she had anything else I could pick up. Unfortunately, the few offerings I did note don’t appear to be offered in English. I guess I’ll consider myself quite lucky that this book was translated from the French, because it was an exquisite piece of writing and a fascinating account of a woman who did not want to settle for an ordinary life.
“Your absence is part of me, and it shaped me. You are the one to whom I owe the murky water that feeds my roots, which run deep. So you continue to exist. In my unquenchable thirst to love. And in my need to be free, like an absolute necessity. But free with them. I am free together, me.”
June 30, 2017
Told in the form of second person the story is written in little vignettes of beautiful prose and interspersed with some of Suzanne's poetry. It is largely a fictional account but loosely based on some factual information gathered by Suzanne's granddaughter trying to collect whatever threads of info of a grandmother who was mostly absent and distant, a grandmother who she only met a few times. This is a brave attempt to piece together the past and what she uncovers is an interesting and complex woman a life of passion and ambition but also a fragmented fragile life leaving behind a trail of broken hearts and unfulfilled dreams. A woman who is drawn to activism and seeks groundbreaking causes but runs away from the people who need her the most. This book is deeply moving. It explores rejection and hurt and pain so well so precise it's uncanny how I felt instantly drawn to the narrator and her mother who are the hapless victims of this selfish and infuriating woman. This was a powerful story and I enjoyed it but was left frustrated by this woman who really had no good reason to be so god damn awful. Her heartless cruelty made me weep for the ones she deliberately hurt. I was impressed by this author how she managed to turn a tragic ending and story into a beautiful lesson showing the power of understanding and forgiveness and how ultimately it can transcend hate. Magnificent.
September 29, 2021
"I am made partly from your desertion. Your absence is part of me, and it shaped me. You are the one to whom I owe the murky water that feeds my roots, which run deep."
What a breathtakingly gorgeous novel!
Recently I read and reviewed The Ugly Cry, in which we are reminded that many (most?) grandmothers do not fit the stereotypical role our culture has assigned them.
They aren't always, and some are never, sweet and kind, offering fresh-baked cookies, cuddles and kisses.
Sometimes they are absent, as was the case of Canadian author Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. Anaïs met her grandmother, artist Suzanne Meloche Barbeau, only three times, the first of which when she was born. After she died, Anaïs found a bundle of letters, newspaper clippings, and poems with which she pieced together her grandmother's life.
This book is a fictionalized biography of Suzanne. It is written in the second person which usually irritates me. It's not many writers who can successfully use this format. However, in this case, it is a constant reminder that the granddaughter is writing about her grandmother. There is an immediacy and longing that would probably have been lacking had the book been written in the first or third person. It is intimate. It draws the reader in, making you feel as though you are privy to the innermost thoughts and feelings of the author.
The book provides mere snippets of Suzanne's life, not lingering on any one event or time. We, like the author, are given only pieces.
Throughout, there is a void that longs to be filled, an aching need to discover who Suzanne really was. To learn why she abandoned her daughter and why she was not in her grandchildren's lives.
For the most part, I was enrapt. There were a couple chapters about Suzanne's early adult years when my interest waned. However, that might have been my mood because, plodding along and almost resenting the story, I all of a sudden found myself once again enthralled.
Suzanne is heartbreakingly beautiful, highlighting the need for familial connections and the sense of loss and longing that sometimes accompanies the absence of a family member. I found this compelling, not wanting to put it down. I shared the author's sense of urgency to discover who Suzanne Meloche Barbeau was. A beautiful book, well worthy of five stars.
What a breathtakingly gorgeous novel!
Recently I read and reviewed The Ugly Cry, in which we are reminded that many (most?) grandmothers do not fit the stereotypical role our culture has assigned them.
They aren't always, and some are never, sweet and kind, offering fresh-baked cookies, cuddles and kisses.
Sometimes they are absent, as was the case of Canadian author Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. Anaïs met her grandmother, artist Suzanne Meloche Barbeau, only three times, the first of which when she was born. After she died, Anaïs found a bundle of letters, newspaper clippings, and poems with which she pieced together her grandmother's life.
This book is a fictionalized biography of Suzanne. It is written in the second person which usually irritates me. It's not many writers who can successfully use this format. However, in this case, it is a constant reminder that the granddaughter is writing about her grandmother. There is an immediacy and longing that would probably have been lacking had the book been written in the first or third person. It is intimate. It draws the reader in, making you feel as though you are privy to the innermost thoughts and feelings of the author.
The book provides mere snippets of Suzanne's life, not lingering on any one event or time. We, like the author, are given only pieces.
Throughout, there is a void that longs to be filled, an aching need to discover who Suzanne really was. To learn why she abandoned her daughter and why she was not in her grandchildren's lives.
For the most part, I was enrapt. There were a couple chapters about Suzanne's early adult years when my interest waned. However, that might have been my mood because, plodding along and almost resenting the story, I all of a sudden found myself once again enthralled.
Suzanne is heartbreakingly beautiful, highlighting the need for familial connections and the sense of loss and longing that sometimes accompanies the absence of a family member. I found this compelling, not wanting to put it down. I shared the author's sense of urgency to discover who Suzanne Meloche Barbeau was. A beautiful book, well worthy of five stars.
April 1, 2017
Une deuxième lecture en vue de mon club de lecture ce soir. Je suis toujours aussi touchée par la simplicité, la douceur, la sensibilité et la profondeur de l'écriture de l'autrice. Davantage pressée par le temps, je n'ai pas pu le déguster comme lors de la première lecture. Or, à chaque page, j'étais frappée par les mots qui se déposaient doucement sur les pages et par la voix délicate de la narration qui existait dans ma tête. On a l'impression de soulever un coin de rideau pour espionner l'effervescence et les déchirements autour des acteurs et actrices du Refus global, des luttes de libération aux États-Unis et d'une femme à la fois libre et prisonnière d'elle-même dans une période dure de l'Histoire. Depuis ma première lecture, j'ai approfondi ma soif d'en savoir plus sur les personnages du roman et j'ai bien sûr visionné le documentaire de Manon Barbeau sur les enfants du Refus global. Ça offre un autre éclairage drôlement intéressant. C'est un roman qui habite et qui marque. Bref, un incontournable.
February 5, 2022
4.5 stars
An enthralling book, a strange hybrid creature, mostly novel, part fictional biography.
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette met her maternal grandmother Suzanne only three times. Suzanne had abandoned her own children when they were small in order to pursue life – as an artist, perhaps, perhaps only as a free person – and even as an old lady responded to an unexpected visit from the author and her mother with a phone call: “never do that again.” Following her death, Barbeau-Lavalette has tried to reconstruct her life, in its details but more ambitiously, in its feelings.
It is written in short chapters in the second person (occasionally with author interference in the first person). We meet Suzanne as the most irrepressible of a French-speaking Ottawa family of six children. Her mother is ground down by children, her father by the Depression, unemployment, loss of self. Suzanne is a brilliant debater, and in due time she makes her escape to Montreal, where she falls in, almost by accident, with a group of artists known as the Automatists. One, the well-known Marcel Barbeau, will become her husband. We see how early motherhood limits Suzanne’s choices even as her husband slowly begins to carve an artistic career.
I did not expect to be shocked by a story of a woman deserting their children. I’m always amazed more women didn’t/don’t. The most famous example is maybe Doris Lessing, and I’ve always thought well, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, Lessing knew what she needed or wanted, she took the necessary steps and instead of a mother she became Doris Lessing. Yet here it feels very raw and transgressive, a double abandonment by both parents, and then the brother and sister separated. And of course this is still, in some way, the grand-daughter’s story.
Yet what I think made it most transgressive, really, was that Suzanne Meloche did not become a Doris Lessing. She lived freely, as she needed to. She painted, alongside Jackson Pollock if the book is to be believed. She wrote poetry. But she did not become famous, and somehow this makes it rather horrible. It is unclear if she herself saw it as horrible, but this leaves a festering wound in the centre of the book.
Nonetheless, it was a wonderful reading experience. I lost interest a little in some later sections – apparently I was less interested in free Suzanne than constrained Suzanne – and occasionally the author wears her heart a little too much on her sleeve, but I still recommend it without reservations. (Thank you Charles for recommending it to me!)
An enthralling book, a strange hybrid creature, mostly novel, part fictional biography.
Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette met her maternal grandmother Suzanne only three times. Suzanne had abandoned her own children when they were small in order to pursue life – as an artist, perhaps, perhaps only as a free person – and even as an old lady responded to an unexpected visit from the author and her mother with a phone call: “never do that again.” Following her death, Barbeau-Lavalette has tried to reconstruct her life, in its details but more ambitiously, in its feelings.
It is written in short chapters in the second person (occasionally with author interference in the first person). We meet Suzanne as the most irrepressible of a French-speaking Ottawa family of six children. Her mother is ground down by children, her father by the Depression, unemployment, loss of self. Suzanne is a brilliant debater, and in due time she makes her escape to Montreal, where she falls in, almost by accident, with a group of artists known as the Automatists. One, the well-known Marcel Barbeau, will become her husband. We see how early motherhood limits Suzanne’s choices even as her husband slowly begins to carve an artistic career.
I did not expect to be shocked by a story of a woman deserting their children. I’m always amazed more women didn’t/don’t. The most famous example is maybe Doris Lessing, and I’ve always thought well, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, Lessing knew what she needed or wanted, she took the necessary steps and instead of a mother she became Doris Lessing. Yet here it feels very raw and transgressive, a double abandonment by both parents, and then the brother and sister separated. And of course this is still, in some way, the grand-daughter’s story.
Yet what I think made it most transgressive, really, was that Suzanne Meloche did not become a Doris Lessing. She lived freely, as she needed to. She painted, alongside Jackson Pollock if the book is to be believed. She wrote poetry. But she did not become famous, and somehow this makes it rather horrible. It is unclear if she herself saw it as horrible, but this leaves a festering wound in the centre of the book.
Nonetheless, it was a wonderful reading experience. I lost interest a little in some later sections – apparently I was less interested in free Suzanne than constrained Suzanne – and occasionally the author wears her heart a little too much on her sleeve, but I still recommend it without reservations. (Thank you Charles for recommending it to me!)
November 17, 2015
Ouf! Que c'est beau! J'ai été profondément émue (lire «j'ai pleuré») par le récit de cette femme, Suzanne Meloche, grand-mère de l'auteure: elle a vécu une vie remarquable, fascinante, une vie remplie, qui ferait l'envie de plusieurs...mais les sacrifices ont été douloureux pour elle, pour les autres et surtout pour ses enfants. (Le récit de François m'a arraché le plus de larmes...) Enfin, l'écriture est superbe; le ton, juste. Celui-ci exprime le reproche fait à cette femme mais, en même temps, il révèle une tendresse, une compréhension de l'auteure pour celle qui fut sa grand-mère et -tout comme elle- une artiste. Incroyablement touchant.
October 24, 2015
Wow ! À lire autant pour l'aspect historique qui nous fait découvrir les créateurs du Refus Global que pour l'histoire déchirante d'une femme qui décide d'abandonner ses enfants. Malgré ce geste impardonnable, on arrive à s'attacher à cette femme et la comprendre en partie.
January 4, 2020
4 thick textured stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️���️️
SUZANNE by Anais Barbeau-Lavalette came to my attention because it has been long-listed for Canada Reads 2019. The title SUZANNE makes me think of Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen and his song Suzanne. I just had to read this book!
Not being a fluent French reader, I chose to read the English edition by Coach House. The rich thick paper pages enhanced my reading pleasure. I liked the feeling of my fingers turning the pages as I read this
fictionalized biography of the author's grandmother.
From the back cover. Anais Barbeau-Lavalette never knew her maternal grandmother, Suzanne. Hoping to understand why the sometimes painter and poet associated with Les Automatistes, a movement of dissident artists that included painter Paul-Emile Borduas, abandoned her husband and young family, Barbeau-Lavalette hired a private detective to piece together her life.
Suzanne is a fictionalized account of Suzanne's life over eighty-five years - from Montreal to Brussels to New York, from lover to lover, through a series of personal and artistic travails that mirror the political movements of the times: the Great Depression, Quebec's Quiet Revolution, women's liberation, and the American civil rights movement. Along the way, Suzanne offers an unforgettable portrait of a volatile, fascinating woman and the near-century she witnessed, while chronicling a granddaughter's search for understanding, forgiveness, and a familial past.
'It's about a nameless despair, an unbearable sadness. But it's also a reflection on what it means to be a mother, and an artist. Most of all, it's a magnificent novel.'
- Les Meconnus
SUZANNE by Anais Barbeau-Lavalette came to my attention because it has been long-listed for Canada Reads 2019. The title SUZANNE makes me think of Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen and his song Suzanne. I just had to read this book!
Not being a fluent French reader, I chose to read the English edition by Coach House. The rich thick paper pages enhanced my reading pleasure. I liked the feeling of my fingers turning the pages as I read this
fictionalized biography of the author's grandmother.
From the back cover. Anais Barbeau-Lavalette never knew her maternal grandmother, Suzanne. Hoping to understand why the sometimes painter and poet associated with Les Automatistes, a movement of dissident artists that included painter Paul-Emile Borduas, abandoned her husband and young family, Barbeau-Lavalette hired a private detective to piece together her life.
Suzanne is a fictionalized account of Suzanne's life over eighty-five years - from Montreal to Brussels to New York, from lover to lover, through a series of personal and artistic travails that mirror the political movements of the times: the Great Depression, Quebec's Quiet Revolution, women's liberation, and the American civil rights movement. Along the way, Suzanne offers an unforgettable portrait of a volatile, fascinating woman and the near-century she witnessed, while chronicling a granddaughter's search for understanding, forgiveness, and a familial past.
'It's about a nameless despair, an unbearable sadness. But it's also a reflection on what it means to be a mother, and an artist. Most of all, it's a magnificent novel.'
- Les Meconnus
February 15, 2019
I loved the writing in this book. It was pure poetry and I couldn't put the put it down. And surprisingly even though it is a biography, it is a real page turner. It is a fictional account about the author's grandmother, who was in the public eye and then vanished. The author hired a private investigator to help fill in the blank spaces - partly out of personal curiosity about her familial ties and also because she understood she had the makings of a great story about a strong woman who lived a life of over eighty years in both North America and Europe in an unconventional lifestyle, very different from the usual norms, in what she perceived to be living in a manner to achieve "her fullest possibilities and potential."
Suzanne is quite an extraordinary story, told in the second person narrative (granddaughter telling the story of her grandmother) in incredible prose - pure poetry in many instances. A very deserving 4 1/2 star read. Am still mulling over whether to round up or down. One of the drawbacks I see is that the book is short - in fact too short. I found it so fascinating and deliciously and intelligently written that I wanted even more of Suzanne's story. A wonderful read. I loved every minute.
Suzanne is quite an extraordinary story, told in the second person narrative (granddaughter telling the story of her grandmother) in incredible prose - pure poetry in many instances. A very deserving 4 1/2 star read. Am still mulling over whether to round up or down. One of the drawbacks I see is that the book is short - in fact too short. I found it so fascinating and deliciously and intelligently written that I wanted even more of Suzanne's story. A wonderful read. I loved every minute.
February 7, 2018
https://ayearofbooksblog.com/2018/02/...
Suzanne was a beautifully written, creative fictional story of the author's maternal grandmother. She researched, imagined and pieced together a life lost to her family. She wrote the story trying to recreate her grandmother's life after discovering a selection of pictures after her death in 2009.
This novel was written in French by Anais Barbeau-Lavalette and later translated into English by Rhonda Mullins. I am happy that it was part of the Canada Reads 2018 long-list or I may have missed this rich narrative altogether. I also loved how Coach House Books published Suzanne with thick, quality paper - the same paper used when they published Fifteen Dogs which was the 2017 Canada Reads winner.
After reading The Book of Eve, last week, the similarities were obvious. Both tales are set in Montreal (or at least part of Suzanne) with a strong, female characters that struggled against the expectations of society. While Eva ran away from her spouse after her son was grown, Suzanne escaped parenthood, marriage and her role as a daughter while seeking her freedom, creativity and independence. Suzanne was an artist and had created both poetry and paintings.
The story is told by Suzanne's grand-daughter. It is written in short snippets of text, broken down into segments of time as the author recreates Suzanne's independence during the Quebec revolution, women's liberation and civil rights campaigns. Three generations are forever impacted by her absence and her grand-daughter weaves a fascinating family history.
More details are available in an article, Anais Barbeau-Lavalette's Book Suzanne explores the meaning -and cost- of freedom as published in the Montreal Gazette.
Both the novel and article leave the reader thinking about Suzanne. I would definitely recommend taking some time to read this unique creative history of a an independent woman who gave up her family for her freedom. although Suzanne was not part of the Canada Reads Short List, I do think that this is an "eye-opening" story which would be great to pick up... after you read the short list!
Suzanne was a beautifully written, creative fictional story of the author's maternal grandmother. She researched, imagined and pieced together a life lost to her family. She wrote the story trying to recreate her grandmother's life after discovering a selection of pictures after her death in 2009.
This novel was written in French by Anais Barbeau-Lavalette and later translated into English by Rhonda Mullins. I am happy that it was part of the Canada Reads 2018 long-list or I may have missed this rich narrative altogether. I also loved how Coach House Books published Suzanne with thick, quality paper - the same paper used when they published Fifteen Dogs which was the 2017 Canada Reads winner.
After reading The Book of Eve, last week, the similarities were obvious. Both tales are set in Montreal (or at least part of Suzanne) with a strong, female characters that struggled against the expectations of society. While Eva ran away from her spouse after her son was grown, Suzanne escaped parenthood, marriage and her role as a daughter while seeking her freedom, creativity and independence. Suzanne was an artist and had created both poetry and paintings.
The story is told by Suzanne's grand-daughter. It is written in short snippets of text, broken down into segments of time as the author recreates Suzanne's independence during the Quebec revolution, women's liberation and civil rights campaigns. Three generations are forever impacted by her absence and her grand-daughter weaves a fascinating family history.
More details are available in an article, Anais Barbeau-Lavalette's Book Suzanne explores the meaning -and cost- of freedom as published in the Montreal Gazette.
Both the novel and article leave the reader thinking about Suzanne. I would definitely recommend taking some time to read this unique creative history of a an independent woman who gave up her family for her freedom. although Suzanne was not part of the Canada Reads Short List, I do think that this is an "eye-opening" story which would be great to pick up... after you read the short list!
October 19, 2024
Un bijou.
January 20, 2023
J’ai dévoré ce livre, j’étais passionnée par l’histoire de cette femme, la grand-mère de l’autrice.
C’est raconté avec une telle richesse! On touche autant à l’aspect psychologique de cette femme qu’à son parcours, tout en abordant plusieurs éléments historiques de son époque.
Plusieurs passages m’ont bouleversée. Mais plutôt que de la détester pour avoir abandonné ses enfants et laissé des blessures éternelles… j’avais cette envie de la comprendre. Tout repose sur la finesse de la plume d’Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette.
C’est raconté avec une telle richesse! On touche autant à l’aspect psychologique de cette femme qu’à son parcours, tout en abordant plusieurs éléments historiques de son époque.
Plusieurs passages m’ont bouleversée. Mais plutôt que de la détester pour avoir abandonné ses enfants et laissé des blessures éternelles… j’avais cette envie de la comprendre. Tout repose sur la finesse de la plume d’Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette.
February 14, 2019
It’s not everyday that you find a novel written in the second person, but this one works remarkably well. I’m not sure the message will translate to Canada Reads, but we’ll see. This book isn’t very long, but what’s more, the chapters are short, the sentences too. There’s a sense of urgency in these pages that helps the reader understand Suzanne’s ever-present desire to escape her circumstances, whatever they may be.
March 9, 2025
Excellent livre, un gros travail de recherche, qui nous fait découvrir la vie de cette femme des années 30 jusqu’à sa mort, et la société québécoise à travers tout ça. Une belle lecture!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ : Adoré
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ : Adoré
December 4, 2015
Il n'est jamais trop tard pour lire La femme qui fuit d'Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette. C'est un roman magnifique qui m'a bouleversé et qui, je le sens, m'habitera longtemps. Sans aucun doute ce que j'ai lu de plus beau et puissant en 2015.
March 20, 2018
Et voilà, c'est fait. J'ai lu La femme qui fuit. Et j'ai beaucoup aimé. Je craignais un peu cette histoire, car tout ce qui y est abordé est assez féminin, mais cela n'a en rien diminué mon plaisir. Premièrement, c'est très bien écrit, une écriture vraiment magnifique et la narration au Tu pour la majorité du livre apporte un petit quelque chose d'assez peu commun et de bien intéressant. On y parle d'abandon, de relation mère-fille, de liberté, de la vie. C'est vraiment la vie d'une personne, avec ses bons et moins bons côtés et le fils de l'histoire traverse l'Histoire du Québec et il y a donc un côté historique assez important, mais sans aucne lourdeur, bien mis en place, tout colle bien. Un livre à lire, vraiment, tous les honneurs qui lui ont été rendus été mérités!! Bravo!
December 24, 2015
Quel beau texte. En même temps, quelle tristesse. Un portrait sans complaisance, mais non dénué de compassion de Suzanne Meloche, poétesse et artiste peintre, qui a abandonné ses deux enfants (dont l'une est la mère de l'auteure) pour se lancer dans une quête éperdue d'elle-même et d'un absolu artistique. Un roman grave qui respire, avec de beaux moments lyriques. J'ai eu l'impression d'assister au processus de création d'un tableau -- Barbeau-Lavalette peint avec des mots, chapitre après chapitre. Pourrait être suggéré autant aux lecteurs aimant les portraits que les amateurs de romans socio-historiques.
May 6, 2024
J’attendais le bon moment pour le lire et le bon moment c’était hier. J’ai bu chacune des lignes, cherché chacun des artistes pour en connaître davantage. La femme qui fuit c’est l’histoire d’un peuple, du peuple québécois, mais c’est surtout l’histoire d’une femme qui a eu un impact sur d’autres. J’ai beaucoup aimé et je le recommande fortement yay!!
September 10, 2022
On y décèle la souffrance, de celle qui fuit, mais inévitablement, ceux qu’elle fuit.
November 29, 2015
Quel roman. Il sera dans mon top de l'année.
October 17, 2024
wow ! Toute une histoire triste et magnifique à la fois.
February 9, 2023
Review 1 - Avril 2017
Dès le début de ma lecture, j’ai compris pourquoi ce livre était autant encensé par tout le monde. L’écriture est incroyable, c’est facile de se laisser emporter par l’histoire, c’est touchant, c’est, c’est, c’est un chef-d’œuvre à tous les points de vue. Je ne sais pas quoi dire d’autre.
Le titre représente très bien le propos du roman. Essentiellement, il s’agit de l’histoire d’une femme marginale qui fuit pour essayer de trouver qui elle est. Elle ne se juge pas apte à gérer des enfants ni à s’engager dans un couple, alors qu’elle ne sait même pas vraiment qui elle est et ce qu’elle veut dans cette vie… C’est pourquoi elle fuit constamment, et que, même âgée, de retour dans son Ottawa natal, elle refuse de revoir et de reprendre contact avec sa progéniture.
Je la comprends, je suis empathique, mais en même temps, comment un humain peut abandonner ses enfants ainsi? Plus tard, ces enfants, que peuvent-ils se dire, que peuvent-ils devenir? Ceci dit, c’est un superbe manifeste pour la liberté de la femme. Et c’est en plein dans le ton de l’époque où Suzanne Meloche a vécu. Une femme forte, indépendante, carriériste, qui ne veut pas d’enfant, etc., c’est un stéréotype que l’on retrouve de plus en plus et que l’on accepte aussi de plus en plus dans notre société. Donc, en quelque sorte, Suzanne Meloche est une précurseure, comme bon nombre de ses collègues du Refus Global. Elle a seulement commis des erreurs et des maladresses, comme le font souvent les avant-gardistes qui osent se lancer dans l’inconnu, la créativité et la nouveauté.
Roman inspirant.
********
Review 2 - Janvier 2023
J'ai relu ce fabuleux roman pour un club de lecture entre amis. Autant j'assume totalement mon appréciation initiale, autant j'ajoute quelques bémols : cette fois, certains passages m'ont paru un peu longs et ne servant pas tant le récit. Au moins, le fil conducteur demeurait très clair et très sensé. Aussi, la conversation du club de lecture a mené au sujet de l'éthique de l'autrice : est-ce moralement acceptable qu'elle dévoile autant d'éléments sur sa grand-mère alors que celle-ci n'a pas autorisé la parution du roman? Est-ce que la frontière entre la réalité et la fiction aurait dû être plus claire? Est-ce que l'autrice aurait dû être plus pudique sur les détails intimes? Pour ma part, ça ne m'a pas dérangé, mais je comprends que ça puisse avoir été le cas pour d'autres personnes.
Dès le début de ma lecture, j’ai compris pourquoi ce livre était autant encensé par tout le monde. L’écriture est incroyable, c’est facile de se laisser emporter par l’histoire, c’est touchant, c’est, c’est, c’est un chef-d’œuvre à tous les points de vue. Je ne sais pas quoi dire d’autre.
Le titre représente très bien le propos du roman. Essentiellement, il s’agit de l’histoire d’une femme marginale qui fuit pour essayer de trouver qui elle est. Elle ne se juge pas apte à gérer des enfants ni à s’engager dans un couple, alors qu’elle ne sait même pas vraiment qui elle est et ce qu’elle veut dans cette vie… C’est pourquoi elle fuit constamment, et que, même âgée, de retour dans son Ottawa natal, elle refuse de revoir et de reprendre contact avec sa progéniture.
Je la comprends, je suis empathique, mais en même temps, comment un humain peut abandonner ses enfants ainsi? Plus tard, ces enfants, que peuvent-ils se dire, que peuvent-ils devenir? Ceci dit, c’est un superbe manifeste pour la liberté de la femme. Et c’est en plein dans le ton de l’époque où Suzanne Meloche a vécu. Une femme forte, indépendante, carriériste, qui ne veut pas d’enfant, etc., c’est un stéréotype que l’on retrouve de plus en plus et que l’on accepte aussi de plus en plus dans notre société. Donc, en quelque sorte, Suzanne Meloche est une précurseure, comme bon nombre de ses collègues du Refus Global. Elle a seulement commis des erreurs et des maladresses, comme le font souvent les avant-gardistes qui osent se lancer dans l’inconnu, la créativité et la nouveauté.
Roman inspirant.
********
Review 2 - Janvier 2023
J'ai relu ce fabuleux roman pour un club de lecture entre amis. Autant j'assume totalement mon appréciation initiale, autant j'ajoute quelques bémols : cette fois, certains passages m'ont paru un peu longs et ne servant pas tant le récit. Au moins, le fil conducteur demeurait très clair et très sensé. Aussi, la conversation du club de lecture a mené au sujet de l'éthique de l'autrice : est-ce moralement acceptable qu'elle dévoile autant d'éléments sur sa grand-mère alors que celle-ci n'a pas autorisé la parution du roman? Est-ce que la frontière entre la réalité et la fiction aurait dû être plus claire? Est-ce que l'autrice aurait dû être plus pudique sur les détails intimes? Pour ma part, ça ne m'a pas dérangé, mais je comprends que ça puisse avoir été le cas pour d'autres personnes.
March 14, 2019
Canada Reads 2019 Shortlist.
2/5 stars.
The theme for Canada Reads this year is a "book to move you", this is not it for me. This book pissed me off. Suzanne is the authors "idea", "recollection" of her maternal grandmother she never knew. Suzanne was a starving artist, who got knocked up and then decided she didn't really want to be a mom, so she left her toddler daughter and infant son to the government system, eventually they were both adopted. Suzanne was a poet, painter and activist. Her granddaughter, the author of this book hired a private investigator to learn more about Suzanne and here were have this book. Fair warning, the book is written in prose. It was beautiful in that sense and I actually didn't mind the writing style. I do think this book could of been great written as a full out fiction novel. It kind of sits in the middle of fiction and non fiction, which kind of took away from the story for me.
I personally did not enjoy the content. I would not consider Suzanne a good example of a feminist for anyone and I think women who act the way she did give feminism the bad rep it gets sometimes. What I mean by this is is Suzanne basically shows women that they can't be a mother and still be a dedicated artist, activist. WHICH IS SO UNTRUE. A women can be anything she wants and then some. She get be a mother and a dedicated activist. She can be a mother and a dedicated career women. Bottom line, you don't have to leave your kids on the door step of a day care to go pressure your career/creative outlets. It really made me made and all I felt was sadness for her two children that didn't ask for of this. You know what story/book I would really like to read, her children's.
2/5 stars.
The theme for Canada Reads this year is a "book to move you", this is not it for me. This book pissed me off. Suzanne is the authors "idea", "recollection" of her maternal grandmother she never knew. Suzanne was a starving artist, who got knocked up and then decided she didn't really want to be a mom, so she left her toddler daughter and infant son to the government system, eventually they were both adopted. Suzanne was a poet, painter and activist. Her granddaughter, the author of this book hired a private investigator to learn more about Suzanne and here were have this book. Fair warning, the book is written in prose. It was beautiful in that sense and I actually didn't mind the writing style. I do think this book could of been great written as a full out fiction novel. It kind of sits in the middle of fiction and non fiction, which kind of took away from the story for me.
I personally did not enjoy the content. I would not consider Suzanne a good example of a feminist for anyone and I think women who act the way she did give feminism the bad rep it gets sometimes. What I mean by this is is Suzanne basically shows women that they can't be a mother and still be a dedicated artist, activist. WHICH IS SO UNTRUE. A women can be anything she wants and then some. She get be a mother and a dedicated activist. She can be a mother and a dedicated career women. Bottom line, you don't have to leave your kids on the door step of a day care to go pressure your career/creative outlets. It really made me made and all I felt was sadness for her two children that didn't ask for of this. You know what story/book I would really like to read, her children's.
March 5, 2023
Ce livre est un chef-d'oeuvre, en tout point. Il raconte l'histoire d'une femme que l'on apprend à détester, puis à pardonner, puis à aprécier, puis à détester encore. En nous remémorant les moments marquants de l'histoire québécoise et américaine, Barbeau-Lavalette nous ancre dans la réalité d'une femme qui, peut-être aurait dû vivre quelques décennies plus tard. Une femme moderne, libre, forte, mais aussi cruelle et incroyablement seule. J'ai dévoré ce livre et j'en veux encore plus. Je sens que ces personnages sont de ceux et celles qui nous manquent, qui font maintenant parti de nous, qui laissent leur trace. J'ai ressenti des émotions tellement fortes, comme si j'étais moi-même sur les lieux de l'action et que ces pages étaient en fait des souvenirs. En plus de l'écriture à couper le souffle, le rythme rapide nous plonge dans son univers et ne nou laisse pas partir. Cette autrice deviendra sans aucun doute l'une de mes favorites.
10/10
10/10
August 8, 2017
Roman puissant où l'on traverse la vie de Suzanne Meloche une femme des années 50-60 qui avait un très grand penchant artiste et probablement santé mentale instable. La narration l'a dépeint telle qu'elle était, sans jugement. Certains moments sont assez difficiles à lire, car Suzanne avait la faculté de se tenir pour (ses)?, du moins des convictions et réussissait aussi à s'autodétruire. Le vocabulaire est riche et la narration au présent est assez particulière. Bonne lecture!
January 19, 2019
Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it. I liked the writing style and how the book was made of almost snapshots, seemed very refreshing after so many novels- and helps it be a super quick read. Story wise tho was meh - I just seemed unable to ever really fully connect with the characters or the plot. That may just be me tho
March 31, 2019
2.5 stars.
The author of this book, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, never knew her maternal grandmother, Suzanne, who abandoned her children when they were young. After her death in 2009, Barbeau-Lavalette hired a private detective to learn about Suzanne’s tumultuous life. With the knowledge she gained, she wrote a fictionalized account of her grandmother’s life, spanning 85 years. Suzanne is written in second-person, which worked surprisingly well for me, and in short vignettes, which I loved. I enjoyed parts of the book and loved the premise, but overall, it was just an okay read for me.
The author of this book, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, never knew her maternal grandmother, Suzanne, who abandoned her children when they were young. After her death in 2009, Barbeau-Lavalette hired a private detective to learn about Suzanne’s tumultuous life. With the knowledge she gained, she wrote a fictionalized account of her grandmother’s life, spanning 85 years. Suzanne is written in second-person, which worked surprisingly well for me, and in short vignettes, which I loved. I enjoyed parts of the book and loved the premise, but overall, it was just an okay read for me.
August 31, 2022
c’est clairement un 4,7 j’ai l’impression que ça pourrait être un 5 dépendant de la période dans ma vie où je le lis mais omg c’était déchirant et vraiment attachant en même temps et l’écriture eST TELLEMENT BELLE!!!!!!! quand elle a dit « le parfum de ton absence a noyé celui de ton cou » j’ai du prendre un moment pour me ressaisir
April 10, 2024
BANNNNGGGG
Le livre était une lecture plaisante, amusante et passionnante. L’écriture d’Anaïs est si légère pour un sujet si lourd sur son cœur. Je ne pouvais m’arrêter de lire mais je ne voulais pas le finir..
Le livre était une lecture plaisante, amusante et passionnante. L’écriture d’Anaïs est si légère pour un sujet si lourd sur son cœur. Je ne pouvais m’arrêter de lire mais je ne voulais pas le finir..
August 6, 2023
Excellente lecture, quoi que peu reposante. J'ai l'impression d'avoir couru tout le long, tout comme Suzanne. Une poursuite pepetuelle, un parcour fascinant. Le recit d'une femme oubliée, qui a été témoin de moments inédits, de rencontres inspirantes. À consommer rapidement mais pleinement.
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