Rosa’s Very Own Personal Revolution by Eric Dupont, translated by Peter McCambridge

Eric Dupont seems to have his own distinct writing style. Like Songs for the Cold of Heart, Rosa–while not quite as epic–is whimsical and entertaining.

Rosa grows up in a small village on the Gaspe Peninsula – isolated enough to have developed their own unique dialect. (“In the village, pronouncing one’s Ks was associated with Montreal, and therefore with treachery and perdition.”) The village’s favourite sport is Scrabble, and the town is known for its source of Boredom (marketed worldwide). In fact, it is this Boredom that leads to Rosa’s decision to leave the village. The west wind that always blows stops blowing, causing Boredom to leak into villagers’ open windows and kill them. Rosa travels to Montreal, determined to find the west wind and bring it home again.

In Montreal, Rosa gets a job as night receptionist at a shady motel and befriends many of the women who cross its threshold. Completely innocent, at first, to the nature of the women’s work, once she learns what it is that they do, it doesn’t much matter to her – they are already friends. She also becomes friends with the three other women in her boarding house, and they bond over the strange relationship they have with their landlady – a woman who is entirely too controlling over the schedule and activities of her boarders.

The many absurdities in this book make it fun and unpredictable, but it’s Rosa’s innocence and altruistic nature that draw you in. Rosa goes to Montreal to find the wind and ends up finding herself.

The Ghost of Suzuko by Vincent Brault, translated by Benjamin Hedley

One of things I love about QC Fiction’s books is that you never what know what you’re about to read. The blurb on the back of the book gives you a tiny taste, but it could never fully prepare you for the unique journey you’re about to take.

In The Ghost of Suzuko, Vincent travels back from Montreal to Tokyo after the death of his partner, Suzuko. He tries to ease his way back into the life he was living with Suzuko and their friends. He finds himself drawn toward a woman named Kana – inexplicably, there’s something about her red, puffy eyelids.

As the story goes on, we find out more about Vincent and Suzuko – how they met, how they became a couple, how a certain element of their relationship was unique. Readers more knowledgeable about Japanese culture–specifically, the “kitsune”–may get more out of this book than the rest of us, but even so, I found this haunting, Tokyo-centered novel hard to put down.

The night continues marching on minute by minute and, minute after minute, I get more and more worried, I can’t help it. I’m afraid, always afraid that people will die. Now. I check my phone every thirty seconds. I wait. No danger. Everything’s normal. Yes. I try to convince myself but it’s hard.

Other QC Fiction books you can find on Consumed by Ink: Songs for the Cold of Heart, The Electric Baths, Tatouine, The Little Fox of Mayerville, School for Girls, In Every Wave