I thought it would be fun to write a series about some of my favourite books - and in honour of Montreal's 375th anniversary this year, I thought I would devote my inaugural post to MTL books!
Both books I'm featuring today are by fellow-Montrealer (and McGillian) Heather O'Neill. O'Neill is one of my favourite writers of all time. Her writing style is definitely unique - I don't think she's ever met a simile that she doesn't like, but she has an original voice, and her books, though set in the underbelly of Montreal, feature strong and articulate female characters that you can't help but root for. She understands this city and tells beautiful haunting stories, at the same time both whimsical and painfully gritty.
O'Neill's first book lullabies for little criminals is a heartbreaking coming-of-age story that follows Baby, a thirteen-year-old girl, forced to grow up too soon and confront the complexities and dangers of adulthood. Her mother is dead and her father is a heroin addict always looking for his next score. She soon becomes entangled with the local neighbourhood pimp at the same time as she is forging a sweet and naive friendship with a boy from her class at school. O'Neill powerfully channels the voice of the barely-teenaged Baby, and though this book is harrowing and tragic, you won't want to put it down. O'Neill's writing will make you laugh outrageously, but also break your heart.
I also love O'Neill's The Girl Who Was Saturday Night. Another coming-of-age story, set on the underbelly of The Main in the 1990s. Beautiful twins Noushcka and Nicolas Tremblay, abandoned by their famous Quebecois folksinger father, live with their grandfather Loulou in a tiny, squalid apartment on Boulevard St. Laurent. They are in turns wildly funny and infectiously charming, but also terribly self-destructive. Noushcka falls for Raphaël, a damaged former child prodigy, and her relationship with her brother and family begins to unravel. The Girl Who Was Saturday Night follows Noushcka's journey of self-exploration, but also deals with Quebec in the 1990s and the looming referendum and separation movement. I think that The Girl Who Was Saturday Night is truly a modern masterpiece.
Have you read any books by Heather O'Neill?
XOXO
P.S. O'Neill has a new book out, The Lonely Hearts Hotel, set in 1930s Montreal. I haven't read it but it's definitely on my list!
(Photo of Ste-Catherine Street by me!)
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