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Songs for the Cold of Heart

Songs for the Cold of Heart is the fourth novel by award-winning Quebec author Eric Dupont.

Eric Dupont, translated by Peter McCambridge

CBC Books Posted: Sep 12, 2018 5:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: January 22

Ayarn to rival the best of them, a big fat whopper of a tall tale that bounces around from provincial Rivire-du-Loup in 1919 to Nagasaki, 1990s Berlin, Romeand beyond. This isthe story of a century long and glorious, stuffed full of parallels, repeating motifsand unforgettable characters with the passion and plotting of a modern-dayTosca. (From QC Fiction)

Songs for the Cold of Heart was on the shortlist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prizeand is a finalist for the2018 Governor General's Literary Award for translation. The original French version of the novel,La Fiance Amricainepublished in 2012, won Quebec's top two literary prizes, the Prix des libraires and Prix descollgiens, and sold over 60,000 copies in the province.

From the ScotiabankGiller Prize jury:"Once upon a time in Quebec there was a girl named Madeleine. A tiny red headed waif with only a suitcase in her possession steps off a train in a frozen village, and a strapping Quebec man falls head over heels in love with her strangeness. A baby is born from this union that is so big, it manages to kill both its parents in childbirth. As magnificent a work of irony and magic as the boldest works of GabrielGarca Mrquez, but with a wholly original sensibility that captures the marvellous obsessions of the Quebecois zeitgeist of the 20th century. It is without a doubt, a tour de force. And the translation is as exquisite as a snowflake."

From the book

Years before her mother bundled her onto a coach bound for New York City in a December blizzard, Madeleine Lamontagnehad been a little girl who loved Easter bunnies, Christmas trees, and the stories told by her dad Louis Lamontagne. Nothing out of the ordinary there. After all, everyone loved to hear Louis "The Horse" Lamontagne's tall tales. Before television, his stories were the best way to pass the time inRivire-du-Loup.

As any drinking maninRivire-du-Loupwill tell you, it was TV that killed the Horse, not the combustion engine. They'll also tell you and there's no reason to doubt them that any man's story, wherever he may be, never finds a more attentive ear than his daughter's, especially if she is the oldest and as such occupies a special place of her own in her father's heart. All of which is to say that Louis "The Horse" Lamontagne, or Papa Louis as the children ofRivire-du-Loupliked to call him, never had a more attentive audience than his little Madeleine, sitting right there on the sofa in her father's funeral home on Rue Saint-Franois-Xavier, in the parish of the same name, in the town ofRivire-du-Loupin the province of Quebec.

FromSongs for the Cold of Heartby Eric Dupont, translated by Peter McCambridge2018. Published by QC FIction.

Interviews with Eric Dupont

Writers and Company1:00:23The enduring magic of The Little Prince: with Stacy Schiff, Mark Osborne and ric Dupont

This week on Writers & Company from the archives, celebrating a classic thats also one of the most translated books in the world: Le Petit Prince or The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Biographer Stacy Schiff, filmmaker Mark Osborne and novelist ric Dupont joined Eleanor Wachtel for the book's 75th anniversary in 2018 to reflect on its enduring appeal.

Breakaway14:46Peter McCambridge wins the 2023 Governor General's literary award

Quebec City's Peter McCambridge won the 2023 Governor General's prize for his rendering of an English version of Eric Dupont's 'La Logeuse.' Alison speaks with McCambridge and Dupont about the unique relationship that forms between an author and the person in charge of translating their work for new audiences.