POUR QUI JE ME PRENDS

Si j'ai changé de vie et de langue maternelle, c'était pour que ma mère ne puisse pas me lire.
Si j'ai changé de vie et de langue maternelle, c'était pour pouvoir respirer alors que j'avais toujours étouffé. Je raconte, ici, l'histoire d'une femme qui a appris à respirer dans une autre langue. Qui a plongé et refait surface ailleurs.

Who hasn't daydreamed about starting over with a clean slate, complete with a new identity? For Lori Saint-Martin, the urge to reinvent herself not just a dream, it's a necessity. She tells a story both radiant and cruel, about how she rejected the environment, culture and language that produced her and became someone else. Her metamorphosis finds its greatest power in a revelation: discovering the French language. From Kitchener to Montreal, with stops in Quebec City, Barcelona and Berlin, Lori Saint-Martin takes us on a tour of the hearths of “her languages” – English, French, Spanish, German – and the faces they evoke.

Lori Saint-Martin published short stories books and a novel. She is well known in Canada and France as the translator of famous Canadian writers (Adamson, Ondaatje, Richler, Toews). She teaches literature at the University of Quebec in Montréal and conducts research on feminism, among other things.

“This poetic-filled book is a true declaration of love for the French language which has given Lori Saint-Martin to be born again.” Montréal Campus
“A love letter to languages, to their transformative power, revealing those bits of identity that we carry within ourselves.” La Presse
“A story that shakes certainties, opens the mind and questions these desires that are often overwhelmed.” Littérature du Québec
“A remarkable work.” Nuit blanche magazine litteraire
“A very beautiful story, very accurate and at times, moving. A necessary book.” Parking nomade
“A story that touches with its sincerity and the lucid intelligence of a woman who fully assumes who she is.” Montréal Centre-ville
“A moving and very personal book.” Radio-Canada