The Road Past Altamont

This novel is a set of four stories told by the narrator Christine of her growing up and learning her place in the world, in time and in the history of her family. There is a inherent urge to travel to explore to branch out and yet when one finds at the end of that travelling is what one had at the beginning. Christine's mother, Eveline or Maman, finds that as she grows old her resemblance loses that of her father who felt the need to move his family from teh hills of Quebec to the flat plains of Manitoba to that of her mother (Memere to Christine) who always regretted the move. There is no beginning. There is no end. There is just a perpetual cycle of the generations with each compelled to explore and learn the lessons of the old

I did read this book before and some of her other ones and I find the depth of her characters interesting and revealing in terms of human nature.

The story is really lovely. I have read many french to english translations and this is definitely one of the best ones. It wasn't at all choppy. Really enjoyed reading it.

Set in rural Manitoba, this series of fictional reminiscences is essentially a meditation on youth and old age with loads of local color.

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