“A Stormy Night”: Here are some discoveries about the wonderful novel by Yves Beauchemin

With his immense talent for storytelling and his knack for bringing colorful and colorful characters to life, the great Quebecois writer Yves Beauchemin returns this fall with a wonderful story, Stormy night. In the universe he created, an emergency doctor receives Philip, a young 19-year-old patient who has just fallen on an icy sidewalk. Little did he know that this meeting would change many things in their lives.

At Dr. Hospital^s Romain Bellerose has a funny impression: Philippe looks very much like his brother who died several years ago. Little by little, everyone who was close or distant in the two men’s entourage seemed to strengthen the bond that united them, in a strange way.

A skilled writer with a subtle sense of humor, Yves Beauchemin is unparalleled when it comes to describing the people and situations, sometimes realistic, sometimes startling, that they have to navigate. His dialogues are wonderful.

In an interview, Yves Beauchemin explains that the novel was born in winter.

“I decided to write a novel. But I’m not as young as I used to be… so I didn’t know if I would get to the end. I’ve become a bit lazy,” he says.

To motivate himself, he came up with the idea of ​​trying to get a scholarship… and was offered the city of Longueuil.

“I entered a South Shore writers’ contest and won. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to have to write the novel!’

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Eye-catching picture

The first image that came to his mind was that of a young man in the middle of winter who fell on the sidewalk and lost consciousness. “I felt like it was important. I noticed it. It’s not a big event…but he ends up in the hospital and it all started from that. He meets the ER doctor and something happens between them. The whole novel is there. Philip reminds him of his older brother who died at the age of 15.” »

Stormy night It is a novel about encounters: those that can be of the kind of synchronicity, those that change the paths of life, those that bring profound changes and development. Good encounters…and others less so.

“Philippe from Juliet ends up in Longueuil… and we meet the character of Pablo Michôd, a kind of petty criminal, and his connections are somewhat disturbing. A series of events arise from this meeting. Quite events harsh sometimes. »

open heart surgery

During the story, the Doctor encounters something that Yves Beauchemin experienced.

“A few years ago, I had open-heart surgery. You know, we borrow from all kinds of places to write a novel. Sometimes we borrow from our lives, from us. I didn’t have to look for open-heart surgery: I had already had it, in spite of myself. Help me. “

All events take place in Longueuil.

“I chose the Vieux-Longueuil region, where I lived for 40 years, because it facilitated my search! I know it like the back of my hand. »

With these elements, which he attributes to “laziness” (“no medical research, no location research”), he set out.

“But for the rest, you still have to work!”

Extracts

“ He was moving quickly along the sidewalk, feeling colder and colder, when his foot slipped on a patch of ice. He lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting his head hard on the concrete. He was lying tall, his backpack thrown to the side of the street, remaining motionless, his mind disoriented. Violent stabs twisted the back of his head as he opened and closed his mouth, gasping.

Now he felt much less cold. Time seems to have stopped.

Suddenly a woman leaned over him:

– Did you hurt yourself, sir? »