Last week, Jerome Bourgault author of Day of Epiphany guest-posted with Genesis of a Novel in which he wrote of his interest in French Canadian history of the 1940s and 50s – a time called La grande noirceur—the Great Darkness—a period of extreme conservatism, sluggish economic growth and stifled cultural development. A period where the Catholic church worked a symbiotic relationship with the Quebec provincial government.
Despite spending several years as a student in Quebec public schools, I’d never heard of this tragic history.
So, I read the book.
Day of Epiphany is compelling historical fiction, a page-turner of a story that will shock you deeply. It reminds me of Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate and has that same sense of I-can’t-believe-this-happened or I-can’t-believe-such-evil-people-existed. No doubt, people like this still do.
A few quotes to spark your interest.
“Cassandra felt her jaw clench when he started in on how the children who died–some of whom were barely six months old – were ‘the embodiment of sin, the sin of their unwed mothers,’ and that it was this sin that ‘permeated and impregnated’ – she could feel MC beside her flinch at the way he savoured that word – ‘the very woodgrain of the building’s framework.’ When he added that this sin had been ‘righteously and decisively burned away, cauterized by the holy fire of God,’ her hands began to shake and her stomach felt queasy.”
“Fear was the most important weapon in the nuns’ arsenal … without fear there was no control.”
“These are the actions of greedy old men in power who seek to profit from the work of helpless children, and they will degrade them to the level of animals if it means a few extra dollars.”
Beyond the exposé of the Great Darkness is a murder mystery which Bourgault handles deftly leaving the reader guessing until the very end.
Highly recommended.
Day of Epiphany by Jerome J Bourgault
At the stroke of a pen, Sister Cassandra Lalonde has gone from being a teacher in an orphanage to a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, and her beloved students have been “reclassified” as mental patients. Set against the backdrop of Québec’s Grande Noirceur (Great Darkness) of the 1940s and ’50s, Day of Epiphany tells a haunting, riveting story inspired by the true events of the Duplessis orphans scandal, a much overlooked national tragedy.
Invisible to society, and with no rights under the law, the children of Sainte-Madeleine Institute are subjected to horrific experimental treatments and unspeakable abuse. Alone against the combined powers of the Catholic Church, the autocratic government of Maurice Duplessis, and the province’s medical authorities, Cassandra must resort to increasingly drastic measures to protect those under her care. Ghostly hymns and desperate prayers build to a crescendo. When Cassandra’s plans to save one of her best and brightest students fall apart, she renounces her vows, and is left to pick up the threads of a shocking criminal scandal with roots stretching far beyond the walls of Sainte-Madeleine.
This is a story of faith and betrayal, irreconcilable loyalties, and one courageous woman’s dauntless humanity in the face of institutionalized oppression. Part historical fiction and part mystery, with the atmosphere of a noir thriller, Day of Epiphany underscores a transformative moment in Canadian history.
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
