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Les Aventures étranges et surprenantes d'Esther Brandeau, moussaillon
En ce printemps de 1738, un navire venu de France s’approche de Québec. À son bord, un passager scrute non sans trépidation cette nouvelle terre où il a choisi de vivre. Il a peut-être raison de trembler, car il voyage sous une fausse identité. D’abord, ce n’est pas un adolescent, comme son déguisement le laisserait croire, mais une jeune femme.
Quand elle est sommée de dire qui elle est, Esther Brandeau se lance dans un étonnant récit. Il y est question d’enfants perdus dans un naufrage, de marins aveugles en proie à la passion amoureuse, de sultans cruels qui broient les os de leurs esclaves pour renforcer le mortier de leurs prisons, de traversée du désert et de nomades au grand cœur, bref, de toutes les merveilles qui peuplent le vaste monde.
Personne ne la croit, mais tout le monde est fasciné. Pour sa part, la jeune femme découvre une société qui vit engoncée dans les préjugés et déchirée par les jeux de pouvoir. Mais il y a cette lumière du ciel au-dessus de Québec, ces quatre saisons bien distinctes, comme les humeurs du corps, et les figures silencieuses des Indiens qui se tiennent aux portes de la ville et dont elle rêve de partager la vie aventureuse.
Quand elle est sommée de dire qui elle est, Esther Brandeau se lance dans un étonnant récit. Il y est question d’enfants perdus dans un naufrage, de marins aveugles en proie à la passion amoureuse, de sultans cruels qui broient les os de leurs esclaves pour renforcer le mortier de leurs prisons, de traversée du désert et de nomades au grand cœur, bref, de toutes les merveilles qui peuplent le vaste monde.
Personne ne la croit, mais tout le monde est fasciné. Pour sa part, la jeune femme découvre une société qui vit engoncée dans les préjugés et déchirée par les jeux de pouvoir. Mais il y a cette lumière du ciel au-dessus de Québec, ces quatre saisons bien distinctes, comme les humeurs du corps, et les figures silencieuses des Indiens qui se tiennent aux portes de la ville et dont elle rêve de partager la vie aventureuse.
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2012
1 person is currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Susan Glickman
26 books37 followersSusan Glickman grew up in Montréal and speaks both English and French. She started out as a dance and drama major at Tufts University in Boston, migrated to Greece for a year of amateur archaeology and professional tanning, and ended up with a double first in English from Oxford University. She finally returned to Canada in 1977, after answering phones and weeding through the slush pile for Sidgwick and Jackson Publishers in London, England, to work for a very small left-wing press in Toronto.
This job somehow inspired her to return to university to write a doctoral dissertation on Shakespeare at the University of Toronto, where she taught English and Canadian literature and creative writing until 1993, first full time on a short term contract, then as a post-doc, then as a Canada Research Fellow. Since then, while raising two children with her husband, glass artist Toan Klein, she has taught creative writing at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, the Avenue Road School of the Arts, and online with Writers in Electronic Residence, and has been a sought-after guest teacher at numerous institutions including Concordia University, Queen’s University, and Franklin University in Indiana, USA. Glickman also works as a freelance editor, mostly of academic books for McGill-Queen’s University Press.
She is the author of seven volumes of poetry, most recently What We Carry (2019). Her first novel, The Violin Lover (Goose Lane, 2006) won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for fiction and was named one of the year’s best novels by The National Post. Her second, The Tale-Teller (Cormorant, 2012), was a best-seller in Quebec after appearing in French as Les Aventures étranges et surprenantes d'Esther Brandeau, moussaillon (Editions du Boréal: 2013). Her Toronto murder mystery, Safe as Houses, was published in 2015, and her YA novel The Discovery of Flight in 2018.. Her first children’s book, Bernadette and the Lunch Bunch, was named one of the best books of 2008 by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, and was followed by two others, also highly praised: Bernadette in the Doghouse (2011) and Bernadette to the Rescue (2012); all three were translated into French by Editions du Boréal. Her literary history, The Picturesque & the Sublime: A Poetics of the Canadian Landscape (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998) won both the Gabrielle Roy Prize for the best work of English Canadian literary criticism and the Raymond Klibansky Prize for the best work in the Humanities.
This job somehow inspired her to return to university to write a doctoral dissertation on Shakespeare at the University of Toronto, where she taught English and Canadian literature and creative writing until 1993, first full time on a short term contract, then as a post-doc, then as a Canada Research Fellow. Since then, while raising two children with her husband, glass artist Toan Klein, she has taught creative writing at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, the Avenue Road School of the Arts, and online with Writers in Electronic Residence, and has been a sought-after guest teacher at numerous institutions including Concordia University, Queen’s University, and Franklin University in Indiana, USA. Glickman also works as a freelance editor, mostly of academic books for McGill-Queen’s University Press.
She is the author of seven volumes of poetry, most recently What We Carry (2019). Her first novel, The Violin Lover (Goose Lane, 2006) won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for fiction and was named one of the year’s best novels by The National Post. Her second, The Tale-Teller (Cormorant, 2012), was a best-seller in Quebec after appearing in French as Les Aventures étranges et surprenantes d'Esther Brandeau, moussaillon (Editions du Boréal: 2013). Her Toronto murder mystery, Safe as Houses, was published in 2015, and her YA novel The Discovery of Flight in 2018.. Her first children’s book, Bernadette and the Lunch Bunch, was named one of the best books of 2008 by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, and was followed by two others, also highly praised: Bernadette in the Doghouse (2011) and Bernadette to the Rescue (2012); all three were translated into French by Editions du Boréal. Her literary history, The Picturesque & the Sublime: A Poetics of the Canadian Landscape (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998) won both the Gabrielle Roy Prize for the best work of English Canadian literary criticism and the Raymond Klibansky Prize for the best work in the Humanities.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 6, 2017
Enjoyed this fictionalized account of the true story of a young Jewish girl who arrived in Quebec City in 1738 when Jews were forbidden to enter French Canada. Disguised at sea as a boy, her identity is revealed upon landing and she spins fantastic stories trying to keep her fate at bay.
January 28, 2018
This was an enchanting read. A Jewish girl, Esther, disguised as a boy, makes her way to New France in the 1730s. The novel is based on a brief (historical) report from that time, imaginatively expanded. Full of lovely stories told by the protagonist to save herself, the novel also simmers with some lovely descriptions of place. I recommend it highly. One slight criticism--it gets a bit didactic at times, especially when it comes to women's rights and religion. That is, some of the things Esther says strike me as impossibly contemporary. Finally, one question--the ending is both surprising and a bit confusing. I'd like to know what others make of it.
Loved it. Tolle lege!
Loved it. Tolle lege!
March 25, 2023
8.5/10 Book Club book. I thought it was great.
September 30, 2014
This was our book club’s pick for September. I thought I was going to enjoy it: the story was based on an actual young woman who disguised herself as a boy in order to start a new life in New France in the early 18th century. She was a Jew who fled Europe in order to escape an arranged marriage and to overcome the restrictions placed upon her because of her gender. At this time in history Jews were not allowed to live in New France, so she was held by officials until they decided what to do with her.
This sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, this is not the story I got. Instead, I got more of a fantasy than a historical fiction. The book is mostly made up of Esther’s fantastical tales, which are quite lyrically written, if you like that sort of thing. Alas, I don’t…. especially when I expected something totally different. It’s like thinking you’re going to bite into a piece of delicious dark chocolate and end up tasting broccoli. I like broccoli, but I’d still be mighty disappointed if I’d expected to taste chocolate!
There was so much other information that could have been covered: more about life in New France, or more about Esther’s real life rather than her make believe life. All that would have been fascinating.
A disappointing read.
This sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, this is not the story I got. Instead, I got more of a fantasy than a historical fiction. The book is mostly made up of Esther’s fantastical tales, which are quite lyrically written, if you like that sort of thing. Alas, I don’t…. especially when I expected something totally different. It’s like thinking you’re going to bite into a piece of delicious dark chocolate and end up tasting broccoli. I like broccoli, but I’d still be mighty disappointed if I’d expected to taste chocolate!
There was so much other information that could have been covered: more about life in New France, or more about Esther’s real life rather than her make believe life. All that would have been fascinating.
A disappointing read.
April 21, 2015
Quite lovely. A pretty gentle read, which was needed after my last spate of books. The language is grandiose, and considering the time period the book is based in, I understand why, but it bugged a little. Regardless, the book is smoothly written, and engrossing, and based on a real story, which is the most interesting part of the whole thing. I felt as though there were some storylines left loose, and the ending was abrupt (though when something is based on a true story, there's only so much a writer can do, of course), and some characters seemed as though they were only glossy cutouts and not entirely expanded. But all in all, a lovely book, a lovely story, a lovely read.
January 29, 2015
A two-page report of a Government Official of New France is expanded to novel length, puffed up by florid descriptions, hampered by missed opportunities, and rendered anachronistic by the author attempting to impose a modern secular humanist and feminist ideology on the extremely religious 18th century New France.
And by the way, we get it. The Jews are a historically persecuted people. No intelligent and sympathetic person would ever consider denying that. But we don't need another second-rate novel pushing their victimhood in our faces.
And by the way, we get it. The Jews are a historically persecuted people. No intelligent and sympathetic person would ever consider denying that. But we don't need another second-rate novel pushing their victimhood in our faces.
July 4, 2019
I loved Esther and her feminist attitude and the stories she told were so wonderful. Glickman managed to make the tales not only interesting but entrancing. They were absolutely captivating and flowed seamlessly into Esther’s narrative. I loved seeing all the parallels between her tales and her own experiences.
February 12, 2013
Good story, love the history of New France in Canada. The character is bold young lady. Quick read.
June 14, 2013
Very interesting read. The language is lovely and flows like water. The characters are unusual and the setting is a new one for me. It is a short book and I wished for the sequel.
October 16, 2013
This historical fiction was a quick easy read. Loved how it was close to home, taking place in Quebec, and that it is based on an actual person who came to Canada seeking a new life.
Want to read
February 5, 2014Click here to find it in the catalogue.
September 24, 2014
It felt like I was reading two different books at the same time. The author made some valid observations regarding religion.
started_finish_later
November 9, 2014the writing style just did not work out for me
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews