Overview

This novel paints the portrait of a Lebanese family that has settled in Montreal. The central figure is Dounia, a 75-year-old mother and grandmother. Hers is a story of loss-she first leaves her own village to live in her husband's hometown, and then is wrenched from her homeland, not once but twice, to live in a strange land whose language and customs are foreign to her. Dounia can neither read nor write, and she speaks only Arabic. Illiterate yet perceptive, nourished by Lebanese proverbs and pearls of wisdom, she has a unique and captivating voice. She struggles, yes, but manages to achieve fulfilment in her new world: ""My home is where my grandchildren are, clinging to my neck, calling me Sitto Dounia [...] in my language. I want to die where my children and my grandchildren live."" Abla Farhoud was an actor and playwright before becoming a novelist in 1998 with the publication of this novel, the French title of which was Le bonheur a la queue glissante, awarded the France-Quebec Philippe Rossillon Prize. Other novels followed, including Le Sourire de la petite Juive (published in English as Hutchison Street), Le dernier des Snoreux, and the posthumous book Havre-Saint-Pierre. Abla Farhoud passed away in 2021.

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9780776642598

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Reviews

Abla Farhoud's classic first novel brings the Lebanese immigrant experience in Quebec to life through the story of a mother, Dounia, raising her French-speaking children in a new culture. This sensitive rendering of the novel in English translation allows Dounia's story to unfold with dignity.--Michelle Hartman ""Professor of Arabic Literature at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University""

Author Information

Born in Lebanon in 1945, Abla Farhoud immigrated to Canada in 1951. She later moved back to Lebanon and spent some time in France. She studied theatre at the Universite du Quebec Montreal and wrote several plays. In 1998, she published her first novel, Le bonheur a la queue glissante, for which she was awarded the Prix France-Quebec Philippe Rossillon. A number of acclaimed novels followed. Abla Farhoud passed away in 2021. She is survived by her children-musician Mathieu Farhoud-Dionne, also known as Chafiik, and singer-songwriter Alecka Farhoud.

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