At the end of a six-year quest that took her from the Radio-Canada archives to Trouville-sur-Mer in Normandy, journalist Catherine Genest offers The Princess of Rhythma biographical novel that tells the fascinating – and largely unknown – life of singer Guylaine Guy.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
We meet Catherine Genest at Café Holt, located in the chic Holt Renfrew-Ogilvy store, to discuss her first novel and the genesis of this crazy adventure in which she embarked six years ago, armed with the will to shed light on the extraordinary destiny of Guylaine Guy.
Why this specific location? Because Guylaine Guy, whose real name is Guylaine Chailler, worked at the time at Ogilvy, before experiencing, in the 1950s, success on the stages of Broadway, Paris, Montreal and all over the world. world.
His name is unknown to you? You are not the only person in this case. Today, most people have forgotten everything about this Montrealer who performed on the most legendary stages and sang with the greatest of her time, from Charles Trenet, of whom she was the muse, to Louis Armstrong, who had nicknamed her “the princess of rhythm”, the title of this fascinating biographical novel.
“No one knows her! “says Catherine Genest. The journalist that we could read in the pages of the To see and who is a collaborator on the show Culture Club on ICI Première saw this herself when she had access to the Radio-Canada archives for her research.
“The girls at the archives doubted I’d find anything, but when I started digging through the database, it came out in the hundreds! They themselves couldn’t get over not knowing her, when she left such a trace in the archives,” says the one who has recently become head of the digital desk at New project.
A family story
If Catherine Genest knew, she, the existence of Guylaine Guy, it is that her grandfather Henri, farmer, was the first cousin of the latter. His mother, a Chailler, like Guylaine, was also a singer in the piano bars of Quebec at one time.
PHOTO DONATION BY DANIELLE DUMONT-FRENETTE, PROVIDED BY BORÉAL
Sisters Guylaine Guy and Colette Bonheur
She was often compared to Colette Chailler, known as Colette Bonheur, Guylaine’s sister, who made a name for herself by singing in Montreal cabarets and in variety shows on Radio-Canada. Both were the daughters of Léontine Laurendeau, known by the stage name Lise Bonheur.
Colette Bonheur died in 1966 in the Bahamas in troubled circumstances; her husband was even accused at the time of manslaughter, before being acquitted. This tragic and mysterious fate intrigued the journalist, who initially wanted to write a book about Colette Bonheur.
But a visit in 2016 to Trouville-sur-Mer, where Guylaine Guy has lived for many years with her husband, the lawyer Charles Libman (now deceased), made him realize that the real subject of his book , the one who “had lived like in a novel”, was this outspoken, very charismatic woman who broke down all the doors in the world of the post-war music hall, before abruptly retiring of the trade in the 1970s.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, THE PRESS
Catherine Genest
After meeting her for the first day, I said to myself “My God, I’m not writing the book about the right person!”. All her life, her time on Broadway, all the people she knew, the cities and countries she visited, her tours in France with Charles Aznavour… I quickly changed my tune!
Catherine Genest
Find the tracks
92-year-old Guylaine Guy suffers from an advanced form of Alzheimer’s and now lives in a residence for the elderly in the town of Deauville, in Normandy. If, during her initial visit in 2016, the former singer still had snippets of her life to confide in her, in 2019, all that remained was the memory of one of her songs.
But it was during this second visit that Catherine Genest was surprised to come across Danielle Dumont-Frenette, niece of Guylaine Guy whom she had been looking for, in vain, for years. A crucial meeting for the advancement of her novel, since the latter notably gave the journalist a gift of archive photos, including the one that adorns the cover of the book.
PHOTO DONATION BY GÉRARD BOSSU, PROVIDED BY BORÉAL
Guylaine Guy, in the 1970s
Wanting to find the traces of this extraordinary life, but also full of paradoxes, the journalist went to meet those, few in number, still there to testify to her life, including the late Raymond Lévesque – who had asked for the hand of Colette Happiness – Dominique Michel and Jacques Boulanger.
She thus redid, little by little, the main lines of this miraculous destiny, which she chose to recount to the “I” in a biographical novel. “Yes, there are some fictionalized parts, but everything is based on fact. »
As a journalist, it was liberating to speak through her, to address certain subjects that were important to me, such as the failings of the music industry, unhealthy power relations, abusive relationships.
Catherine Genest
Because by recounting the destiny of Guylaine Guy, it is a whole era that Catherine Genest highlights. A period when women were often used as foils and had to be silent, a role that the singer, who did not have her tongue in her pocket, has always refused.
Why have we forgotten Guylaine Guy today? Maybe because his career ended abruptly? Far from the limelight, she then devoted herself to painting and sculpture. Or maybe because she went into exile in France, far from her native Quebec? Maybe out of fashion, because his songs haven’t all stood the test of time? But maybe, quite simply, because she was a woman?
“It’s probably a bit simplistic to say it like that, but I think if a man had done everything she did – she still sang with Louis Armstrong, toured Brazil, Turkey! – we would remember. She was truly a pioneer, she deserves to be recognized at her fair value. »
The Princess of Rhythm
Catherine Genest
boreal
319 pages