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Rosa's Very Own Personal Revolution
Rosa Ost grows up in Notre-Dame-du-Cachalot, a tiny village at the end of the world, where two industries are paper and Boredom. The only daughter of Terese Ost (a fair-to-middling trade unionist and a first-rate Scrabble player), the fate that befalls Rosa is the focus of this tale of long journeys and longer lives, of impossible deaths, unwavering prophecies, and unsettling dreams as she leaves her village for Montreal on a quest to summon the westerly wind that has proved so vital to the local economy.
From village gossips, tealeaf-reading exotic dancers, and Acadian red herrings to soothsaying winkles and centuries-old curses, Rosa’s Very Own Personal Revolution is a delightful, boundary-pushing story about stories and the storytellers who make them – and a reminder that revolutions in Quebec aren’t always quiet.
“By turns caustic, fierce and moving, this sinuous novel is chock full of interwoven stories, comical scenes and larger-than-life, hilarious characters. The novelist casts his spell to rework historical events in a magical world, blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality, between centuries past and the year 2000 … Brilliant and exhilarating.” (Suzanne Giguère, Le Devoir)
“Delightful” (Marie-Claude Fortin, La Presse)
“A gem” (Didier Fessou, Le Soleil)
PRAISE FOR Eric Dupont’s SONGS FOR THE COLD OF HEART
“spectacular… original in every sense” (Literary Review of Canada)
“masterful… heartbreaking and hilarious” (Publishers Weekly)
“highly recommended” (Library Journal)
“fiercely readable” (Toronto Star)
This book manages to capture the cultural zeitgeist of Quebec culture in the twentieth century. It reminded me of all the great French Canadian novels I read as a child, but pushed them to new, delightful, hilarious, epic levels. […] I dare you not to read the first three pages and fall in love.” (Heather O’Neill, jury member, 2018 Giller Prize)
“As magnificent a work of irony and magic as the boldest works of Gabriel García Márquez, but with a wholly original sensibility that captures the marvellous obsessions of the Québécois zeitgeist of the 20th century. It is, without a doubt, a tour de force. And the translation is as exquisite as a snowflake.” (Giller Prize jury)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric Dupont was born in Amqui, Quebec, in 1970. He left his native Gaspé Peninsula at age 16 for Austria and other faraway locales, returning to Quebec in 2003 to accept a position as a lecturer in translation at the McGill University School of Continuing Studies. His fourth novel, La Fiancée américaine, released in 2012, won the Prix des libraires du Québec and the Prix littéraire des collégiens. Its English translation by Peter McCambridge, Songs for the Cold of Heart, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2018 and subsequently published by HarperVia, outside of Canada, under the title The American Fiancée. One of the hallmarks of Eric’s writing is the juxtaposition of the supernatural and real worlds. The lighthearted tone of his work often belies undercurrents of deeper themes and meanings.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Originally from Ireland, Peter McCambridge holds a BA in modern languages from Cambridge University, England, and has lived in Quebec City since 2003. He runs Québec Reads and now QC Fiction. Life in the Court of Matane was the first novel he chose for this collection and the book that made him want to become a literary translator in the first place.
From village gossips, tealeaf-reading exotic dancers, and Acadian red herrings to soothsaying winkles and centuries-old curses, Rosa’s Very Own Personal Revolution is a delightful, boundary-pushing story about stories and the storytellers who make them – and a reminder that revolutions in Quebec aren’t always quiet.
“By turns caustic, fierce and moving, this sinuous novel is chock full of interwoven stories, comical scenes and larger-than-life, hilarious characters. The novelist casts his spell to rework historical events in a magical world, blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality, between centuries past and the year 2000 … Brilliant and exhilarating.” (Suzanne Giguère, Le Devoir)
“Delightful” (Marie-Claude Fortin, La Presse)
“A gem” (Didier Fessou, Le Soleil)
PRAISE FOR Eric Dupont’s SONGS FOR THE COLD OF HEART
“spectacular… original in every sense” (Literary Review of Canada)
“masterful… heartbreaking and hilarious” (Publishers Weekly)
“highly recommended” (Library Journal)
“fiercely readable” (Toronto Star)
This book manages to capture the cultural zeitgeist of Quebec culture in the twentieth century. It reminded me of all the great French Canadian novels I read as a child, but pushed them to new, delightful, hilarious, epic levels. […] I dare you not to read the first three pages and fall in love.” (Heather O’Neill, jury member, 2018 Giller Prize)
“As magnificent a work of irony and magic as the boldest works of Gabriel García Márquez, but with a wholly original sensibility that captures the marvellous obsessions of the Québécois zeitgeist of the 20th century. It is, without a doubt, a tour de force. And the translation is as exquisite as a snowflake.” (Giller Prize jury)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric Dupont was born in Amqui, Quebec, in 1970. He left his native Gaspé Peninsula at age 16 for Austria and other faraway locales, returning to Quebec in 2003 to accept a position as a lecturer in translation at the McGill University School of Continuing Studies. His fourth novel, La Fiancée américaine, released in 2012, won the Prix des libraires du Québec and the Prix littéraire des collégiens. Its English translation by Peter McCambridge, Songs for the Cold of Heart, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2018 and subsequently published by HarperVia, outside of Canada, under the title The American Fiancée. One of the hallmarks of Eric’s writing is the juxtaposition of the supernatural and real worlds. The lighthearted tone of his work often belies undercurrents of deeper themes and meanings.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Originally from Ireland, Peter McCambridge holds a BA in modern languages from Cambridge University, England, and has lived in Quebec City since 2003. He runs Québec Reads and now QC Fiction. Life in the Court of Matane was the first novel he chose for this collection and the book that made him want to become a literary translator in the first place.
213 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
9 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Éric Dupont
15 books108 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 21, 2022
3.5 stars
This improbable farce is a fun read with a strangely satisfying, if bizarre, ending. It's hard to imagine how Dupont dreamed up this tale of a young woman raised on Marxist ideology who leaves her village in the Gaspé Peninsula to find the wind after the gusts suddenly cease and the townspeople start dying of Boredom (which is not what you think). Naive and trusting, Rosa arrives in Montreal, becomes friends with a troop of strippers and takes a job in a pay-by-the-hour motel. Strange, yes, but oddly charming and certainly not like anything you've read before.
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2022/09/21/at...
This improbable farce is a fun read with a strangely satisfying, if bizarre, ending. It's hard to imagine how Dupont dreamed up this tale of a young woman raised on Marxist ideology who leaves her village in the Gaspé Peninsula to find the wind after the gusts suddenly cease and the townspeople start dying of Boredom (which is not what you think). Naive and trusting, Rosa arrives in Montreal, becomes friends with a troop of strippers and takes a job in a pay-by-the-hour motel. Strange, yes, but oddly charming and certainly not like anything you've read before.
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2022/09/21/at...
September 8, 2022
Another great Quebec "fable" by Eric Dupont, the author of "Songs for the Cold of Heart". Rosa, innocent girl from the Gaspesie travels to Montreal to find the wind, the lack of which is slowly killing her small hometown of Boredom. You have to read it to understand.
November 26, 2020
Un 4 étoiles, parce que bah.. parce que c’est Dupont et que je l’aime, son écriture libre et folle et tendre et si belle a la fois. Il me vient des similitudes avec Fred Pellerin parfois dans l’art d’imager, de partir en folie dans une histoire aux personnages plus grands que nature. Dans la préface de cette nouvelle édition que j’ai lue ( quelle jaquette magnifique d’ailleurs ) , il fait référence à son désir d’intégrer dans la littérature québécoise moderne un peu de la magie et de l’imaginaire qui a engendré la légende de la chasse galerie ... Une écriture parfaite, des traits de génie, dans un roman somme toute imparfait mais qui laisse entrevoir ce qu’il deviendra quelques années après avec La fiancée américaine et La route des lilas.
Ai-je dis que je l’aime Eric Dupont ? 🥰
Ai-je dis que je l’aime Eric Dupont ? 🥰
August 1, 2023
Bien qu’il soit tout à fait possible de lire les romans de Dupont de manière indépendante, j’aurais aimé lire La Logeuse avant La Route du lilas, j’aurais ainsi mieux compris certains passages de ce dernier, en particulier vers la fin.
Cet intéressant petit roman laisse entrevoir, de par son style, une maigre idée de l’imposante Fiancée américaine, qui a été publiée quelques années après La Logeuse.
J’ai adoré apprendre à connaître Rosa, à la fois d’une vive intelligence et toute innocente et naïve. Certains aspects du dernier chapitre étaient pour moi inattendus, alors que j’en ai senti venir d’autres (et ils sont néanmoins arrivés assez différemment de ce que à quoi je m’attendais).
Cet intéressant petit roman laisse entrevoir, de par son style, une maigre idée de l’imposante Fiancée américaine, qui a été publiée quelques années après La Logeuse.
J’ai adoré apprendre à connaître Rosa, à la fois d’une vive intelligence et toute innocente et naïve. Certains aspects du dernier chapitre étaient pour moi inattendus, alors que j’en ai senti venir d’autres (et ils sont néanmoins arrivés assez différemment de ce que à quoi je m’attendais).
September 14, 2025
I had no idea what to expect from this novel but with every turn of the page I was consistently surprised, entertained, and sucked further into the story. It was not simple, it didn't end with a conclusion anyone could have predicted and I'm still pondering what so much of it meant. There were incredibly poignant quotes and I paused repeatedly to reflect on how this book made me feel. If you want original, this is the ideal Canadian book for you.
December 21, 2020
Moins intéressant que La fiancée américaine et Voleurs de sucre. J'avais l'impression d'avoir quitté le surréalisme pour le fantastique.
June 23, 2023
Voici un récit cocasse à la fois Québécois et International. Des personnages de tout acabit animent cette fiction burlesque. Eric Dupont a un imaginaire débordant.
August 7, 2024
#FOLDchallenge
June 10, 2025
3.5☆
L'auteur a un talent fou pour conter, j'ai adoré son écriture, mais l'histoire ne m'a pas particulièrement accrochée.
L'auteur a un talent fou pour conter, j'ai adoré son écriture, mais l'histoire ne m'a pas particulièrement accrochée.
December 9, 2025
Je découvre un autre auteur et un autre genre littéraire. Eric Dupont nous raconte une histoire sans trop se perdre dans les descriptions.
Ce livre se lit très bien.
Ce livre se lit très bien.
September 10, 2019
Une fable à mi-chemin entre un Michel Tremblay et un Boris Vian.
January 22, 2017
Dupont accomplit avec brio l'objectif qu'il se donne dans la préface, soit d'injecter du merveilleux dans un roman québécois contemporain. J'y vois des parentés avec les contes cités, mais aussi avec Ferron. Les personnages et les lieux forment un tableau saisissant et poétique. J'ai aimé particulièrement Jeanne Joyal, Rosa (une héroïne imparfaite et charmante) et tante Zénoïde.
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September 20, 2023Really not my cup of tea. My surrealism allergy really acted up.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews