rich, vibrant, memorable prose ... a saga well worth telling and retelling -Linda Thorlakson, Foreword Reviews
An epic, rambling, decades-spanning, vastly entertaining book. (...) If you read only one fiction book this year, make it this one. Five stars -James Fisher, The Miramichi Reader
An emerging voice in Quebec fiction, Dupont releases his second novel to be translated into English, presenting an epic family saga peppered with tall tales, sex, humor, unspeakable tragedy, and a touch of magic realism. Beginning with the Christmas birth of Louis Lamontagne, we follow the exploits of this larger-than-life strongman, lothario, and eventual funeral director, before moving onto his daughter, Madeleine, who opens a successful chain of diners. The last half of the book focuses on Madeleine's son Gabriel, a gentle dimwit and ladies' man who tracks a woman to Berlin but gets distracted by Magda Berg, an elderly neighbor who shares a long narrative about her World War II experiences and reveals unexpected connections to the Lamontagne family. Wildly ambitious in scope and structure, Dupont's novel (originally titled La Fiancee Americaine) mostly succeeds in throwing many balls into the air and having each land where it has the most impact. Readers may be tempted to start the book again to pick up all the clues they missed the first time through. The entire work is a testament to the power, and pitfalls, of storytelling. Through exaggeration, selective memory, and perspective, whose version of the story can we believe? VERDICT Highly recommended. -Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis
... an epic family saga peppered with tall tales, sex, humor, unspeakable tragedy, and a touch of magic realism. The verdict? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. - Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis, Library Journal
