Francine Ouellette

Francine Ouellette is a Québécois novelist, born on March 11th, 1947 in Montreal.

Biography

Francine Ouellette saw its childhood rocked between the accounts Bavaria his/her mother and High-Laurentides her father. She puts herself at the very young writing and writes a first novel at the 12 years age. She makes her studies at the School of the Art schools of Montreal, to become teaching in visual arts. She finds a post office in general-purpose the Saint-Joseph, in the birthplace of her father, Mount-Bay-tree. She teaches there during five years, period during which she will never cease writing. Pupils of general-purpose launch one day a challenge to him: to jump in parachute. It is by taking up this challenge which it finds its vocation: to fly.

In the Seventies, it thus gives its resignation and leaves Mount-Bay-tree for Schefferville where it takes courses of flight and fall in love with its instructor, a pilot of bush. It is at that time that she writes the wings of the destiny , which, not finding an editor, will have to await a score of years before being published. The couple settles close to Mount-Bay-tree, at the edge of the lake of the Islands, where Francine Ouellette can be devoted fully to its three passions: the writing, aviation and sculpture.

She begins long research on the beginnings of her area and leaves, in 1984, In the name of the father and of the son who very quickly finds at the head best-sellers, just as her continuation, the Wizard , published one year later. Its novel speaks to us about stories: impossible history of love enters a White and an Indian, history of Amerindian civilization and colonization of the Countries of in top, shock of the cultures between the White and the “savages”, of the absolute power of the clergy and its fight against medicine and the sin. In the name of the father and of the son will have his version televised in 1992. The reaction will be sharp and of many televiewers will write with the newspapers and the television networks to complain about what they feel as an attack towards their religion.

With Sir Gaby of the lake , in 1989, it goes this time to the help of the environment, but its cry will not be heard and this novel will be less success.

In 1992 and 1993, with first of all the Wings of the destiny , then with the continuation, the Large White , it makes us live his passion of aviation and makes us discover the prison universe of years 60-70 in Quebec. Its novels are a great success and it finds sales again at the head.

In 1995, Francine Ouellette publishes a book which makes very little speak about him, Bip . Beep is an imaginary character who belongs to the life of auteure since one day it was found for the first time in front of a classroom and had to ask for the assistance of Beep to overcome its timidity. More philosophical, this book leads us to discovered world and the human ones. Bip is illustrated by auteure itself.

Last nine years later, in 2004, the novelist returns to her old passions. Persuaded that the History us was badly taught, she wishes “to upset the learned concepts, to destroy the myths and enfreindre the taboos”. She undertakes then the writing of Feu , a saga in six volumes, of which the two first, the profaned River and the Foreigner leave in 2004 and 2005. She takes again her preferred topics there: life of the Amerindians, their habits, their traditions, the arrival of the White in News-France, negative vision of the French, the shock of the cultures, the “Dress-Black ones”, but seen through the eyes of the Indians. Its saga covers one period of more than 360 years, that is to say beginning of the XVIIe century, until 1960 and constitutes a major work, after more than ten years of research.

Literary criticisms often reproached Francine Ouellette for making popular literature and, however, they as often had to be appropriate as its novels were very well written. The novelist defends herself by saying that what she wishes before all is to give pleasure with its readers.

Bibliography

Novels

• 1984: In the name of the father and of the son
• 1985: the Wizard
• 1989: Sir Gaby of the lake
• 1992: Wings of the destiny: the lark out of cage
• 1993: the Large White
• 2004: the profaned river
• 2005: the Foreigner
• 2007: Fleur of lily

Literature youth

• 1999 : Snipe, the invisible bird

Others

• 1995 : Beep

Honors

• 1986: Price France-Quebec Jean-Hamelin, for the Wizard
• 1990: Price Citizen of nature, for Sir Gaby of the lake
• 1993: Grand Prix of the public, for In the name of the father and of the son
• 1993: Gold bookmark, novel of the year, for In the name of the father and of the son
• 1994: Grand Prix of the readers and the readers of the Newspaper of Montreal, for the Large White

Bonds

• Québécois Literature

• the club of the rats of biblio-Net
• topicality of the Literary prizes
• the literary Info-center of the Québécois writers (the Island)