Against the Wind by Madeleine Gagnon

Author:Madeleine Gagnon [Gagnon, Madeleine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC025000 FICTION / Psychological, FIC039000 FICTION / Visionary and Metaphysical
ISBN: 9780889227217
Publisher: Talonbooks
Published: 2012-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

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Montreal, June 27, 1968

Dear Dena and Rebecca,

I’m sending you both the same letter – I’m in a rush – to invite you to our house on the first Saturday following Véronique’s release from the hospital for minds. Probably this coming Saturday.

I want to have a nice party with just a few of our closest friends. I want to have a real sit-down meal. And the table only seats seven people comfortably. It’s for supper – dinner, as you say. From appetizer to dessert, there will be seven courses, so don’t eat a lot at noon. I want to prepare a gourmet meal (I’ve gotten out all my recipe books!), with excellent wines and champagne with dessert.

I’ll call you with the menu and other details. But I wanted to send this note beforehand. We want to bring together the closest friends of each of us, who don’t know each other yet. You’re our only common friends, the only friends we have made together. This party will be very important to us.

In addition to the four of us, there will be my friend Denis (I’ve told you about him) and his spouse (they’re not married, but I never know what to say anymore – friend? companion? girlfriend?), Michèle. She’s very nice, a bit younger than we are (twenty-four), doing a master’s in anthropology at the Université deMontréal, very intelligent and good-humoured, funny and as sweet as could be. The two of them really love each other. They have a two-year-old and they’ll get a sitter that evening. Denis and Michèle want to bring the champagne.

There’s Véronique’s best friend, Louis. I think Véronique has told you about him. He’s also a pianist, an excellent interpreter of contemporary music (the best in Quebec), and he wants to retire (in large part, at least) from the “concert scene,” as he says, because he’s “fed up with all the jostling for honours and prizes.” He’ll tell you about it. He wants to devote himself to composition and, eventually, to performing his own works. He’s putting off any more public concerts. He’s just recorded an album (we’ll give it to you) of his interpretations of Schoenberg and Berg and his piano transcriptions of three of Mahler’s symphonies. He’s going to be the co-founder and co-director of themusic school for kids with Véronique.We don’t know where he gets all his energy and enthusiasm. He’s funny too.

It will be a very nice group, don’t you think?

Oh, I almost forgot! … Véronique doesn’t know. I want it to be a surprise. Keep it a secret. I’m only going to tell her Saturday morning. I don’t want her to get all worked up about the shopping.

Her piano will be there. And another surprise: Denis and I took care of moving her things. I went to meet her parents one evening. I’ll tell you about it. As it turned out, I got along quite well with her mother – it was a bit touchy! – and she was very cooperative and discreet.

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