Claire Holden Rothman reimagines Hugh MacLennan’s Canadian literature classic Two Solitudes through the eyes and voices of an extended family touched in various ways by Quebec’s October Crisis. Rather than using her characters as symbols and thematic representations, however, Rothman creates palpably believable human beings touched by social, political and cultural forces, not just those buffeting Quebec in the 1970s, but reaching back to World War II. Beyond those external forces and influences, other connections and secrets are interwoven in the lives of prominent francophone author Luc Levesque, his wife Hannah, who is also the English translator of his works, and their troubled teenage son Hugo. There is an imperative tone to the “My” in the book’s title, driving home that what has happened in this pivotal month affects each character very differently, tests their strength and resourcefulness as individuals and challenges them collectively as a family.
My October, by Claire Holden Rothman
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