Rosa Ost grows up in Notre-Dame-du-Cachalot, a tiny village at the end of the world, where two industries are king: paper and Boredom. The only daughter of Terese Ost (a fair-to-middling trade unionist and a first-rate Scrabble player), the fate that befalls Rosa is the focus of this tale of long journeys and longer lives, of impossible deaths, unwavering prophecies, and unsettling dreams as she leaves her village for Montreal on a quest to summon the westerly wind that has proved so vital to the local economy.

From village gossips, tealeaf-reading exotic dancers, and Acadian red herrings to soothsaying winkles and centuries-old curses, Rosa's Very Own Personal Revolution is a delightful, boundary-pushing story about stories and the storytellers who make them - and a reminder that revolutions in Quebec aren't always quiet.

ERIC DUPONT was born in Gaspésie in 1970. He is a teacher and translator in Montréal. Sugar Thieves (Voleurs de sucre) is his first novel. His second novel La Loguese won the French language CBC's Canada Reads (Le Combats des livres) in 2008.

Eric Dupont's profile page

Originally from Ireland, Peter McCambridge holds a BA in modern languages from Cambridge University, England, and has lived in Quebec City since 2003. He runs Québec Reads and QC Fiction. His translations have been World Literature Today Notable Translations, longlisted for Canada Reads, and finalists for the Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award for Translation.

Peter McCambridge's profile page

WINNER Governor General's Award for Translation 2023

"Once again, Québec author Eric Dupont has crafted a delightful novel bringing together the rustic world of the Gaspe Peninsula with fast-paced life in big-city Montreal. Masterfully translated by Peter McCambridge, arguably the best contemporary translator in Canada, Rosa's Very Own Personal Revolution brings to English readers a view of Quebec society too long hidden from them." Ian Thomas Shaw, Ottawa Review of Books

"an unforgettable tall tale ... consistently entertaining" (Marcie McCauley, The Temz Review)

"Playful and irreverent, this improbable farce is a fun read with a strangely satisfying, if bizarre, ending that ties up the loose ends in the wildest of knots." (Joseph Schreiber, Rough Ghosts)

"whimsical and entertaining ... fun and unpredictable" (Consumed by Ink)

"This latest work has elements of the two previous Dupont novels to have made it into English, but it also has a charm all of its own, and is great fun to read. . . . if you like a bit of fun with your fiction in translation, then spending a couple of nights in Rosa's company is just the ticket." Tony Malone, Tony's Reading List

PRAISE FOR SONGS FOR THE COLD OF HEART

?spectacular” original in every sense” (Literary Review of Canada)

?masterful” heartbreaking and hilarious” (Publishers Weekly)

“highly recommended” (Library Journal)

?fiercely readable” (Toronto Star)

PRAISE FOR LIFE IN THE COURT OF MATANE

“Translator McCambridge beautifully captures the joyous top notes and the darker undercurrents of this fascinating voice.” (Publishers Weekly)

»Dupont is a writer of such intelligence and skill that he is able to not only become a philosopher, but a poet, who not only understands the horrors of a dysfunctional childhood, but also knows what is beautiful about it. And this book is a testament to his unwavering generosity towards both his characters and the people of Quebec.” (Heather O?Neill, author)

?Dupont's gift is that his stories have never been told in such a way before, could only ever be told in that way, and will never again be told like that.” (Buried in Print)