Description
In Saint-Roch, a working-class neighborhood of Quebec City, at the end of the 19th century, we witness the unlikely encounter between Ovila Joyal, a journalist for Le Soleil , and Hubert Bédard, a hunchbacked bell ringer. These two men, seemingly worlds apart, have an excellent reason to bond: Ovila's love for Marjolaine, Hubert's sister. Through Hubert's diary, we discover the story of the Bédard family, while Ovila's reveals the significant events in both the everyday and broader history of Quebec City. This dual narrative thus portrays two distinct social classes: the wealthy, the bourgeoisie, and the intellectuals, on the one hand, and the poor, the humble, and the working class, on the other. With his proverbial verve, Michel Langlois presents colourful and endearing characters whose lives evolve according to the dramas and joys that weave their existence, in the movement of a century ending and another beginning, for better or for worse…
