Michelle Winters

I am always looking for books set in Canadian provinces that are under-represented in terms of the number of authors writing about that province. For instance, try to find a book set in PEI that is not written by L. M. Montgomery. The same is true of New Brunswick. David Adams Richards has written many excellent books set there but there are very few other writers in that province. I noticed this book when it was on the Giller shortlist in 2016 precisely because it was set in NB but I didn't get a chance to read it then. It may be bad news for the author that the Winnipeg Public Library put this copy into their book sale in 2019 but it was good news for me. I snapped it up.

Agathe and Réjean Lapointe are francophone residents in rural New Brunswick. They are about to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary and they are still passionately in love. Agathe stays home and manages the house while Réjean works in the woods as a lumberjack. Réjean tells Agathe he is going fishing with the guys from work but Agathe figures he is doing something to surprise her. Then she gets a big surprise when, instead of Réjean returning home, police come to her door to tell her that Réjean's Chevy Silverado truck has been found abandoned on the highway with the driver's door open. There is no sign of Réjean anywhere. Agathe is devastated but in a short while she realizes she will have to get a job as Réjean does not materialize. She gets a job as a cleaner in an electronics store and her coworker, Debbie, teaches her to drive and appreciate rock and roll and just generally live a little. Eventually the mystery of Réjean's disappearance is solved but by then Agathe is a changed woman.

Judging by the music referenced in this book the time period is some time in the 1970s. There was no internet, no cell phones, no streaming TV shows. It was a simpler time and I can see that in rural New Brunswick women like Agathe in the beginning might have been quite common. Winters has reminded us that it is not so long ago that women were supposed to be "barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen". Thank goodness Agathe got her eyes opened.… (mais)

Réjean and Agathe have an almost idyllic life together. He’s a hulking, nearly seven-foot, lumberjack with a fondness for Chevy trucks and, apart from their playful sex games, a rather limited inner life. When asked what he does for a hobby, he is stumped. She’s petite, a fabulous Acadian cook, a diligent housewife, who has never really wanted anything more than she’s got at the moment, other than maybe to be able to listen to some rock and roll instead of Acadian folk music when they are driving in Réjean’s truck. So when Réjean fails to return home after a day out fishing and his truck is found abandoned just days before their 20th wedding anniversary, Agathe and the police are at a complete loss.

The story moves back and forth between the present of Réjean’s disappearance and the past in a counterpoint that will eventually lead to full disclosure on what happened. But by then Agathe will have already had to move on, perhaps, to set out on her own on what will likely be a rock and roll highway.

There’s more to it than that. There is a fascinating interplay between the French characters here, whose English is limited despite the intrusion of English words when they converse in Chiac. There is a lonely truck salesman whose own inner hopelessness mirrors Réjean’s. And there is the growing independence of Agathe. It is a curious mix, told in near-comic style — we don’t really have a strong sense of any of these characters, so they all function more like cartoon figures. And ultimately it’s not clear that there is a fully cohesive arc to this story. But that’s fine too. Certainly there is enough here to make it an enjoyable read and more than enough to warrant reading whatever Michelle Winters chooses to write next.

Gently recommended.… (mais)

What happens to you when someone you love goes missing....and when that someone is your only friend? Rejean and Agathe have been married for 20 years, and live in an isolated house on the outskirts of an Anglophone village. They seem to need only each other and have a strong friendship. When Rejean's beloved truck is found abandoned on the highway with no signs of foul play, Agathe begins putting up "Missing" posters and waiting for news. As time goes on, she realizes she needs to find a job. She meets people. She becomes her own person -- still missing Rejean, but different from who she was with him.

Martin Bureau is Rejean's friend, which is a big deal for Martin. He doesn't make friends easily. He's a Chevy salesman who drives a Ford he secretly parks several blocks from his office. Forming a relationship with Rejean makes Martin feel normal, increases his confidence. But Rejean is gone, and Martin becomes obsessed with watching over Agathe.

And what happens when the person you've been missing so much comes back? And things aren't the same.....

A short book, simply written but with a deeper theme of who we are and who we can be.… (mais)