“The happiness of my life perhaps comes in large part from being born on rue Deschambault,” wrote Gabrielle Roy in My little street that took me around the world. This “avant-texte”, thus described by the late François Ricard, devoted guardian of his work, constituted a draft of one of his greatest books, Distress and enchantmentautobiography published in 1984, a year after the death of the famous writer.
No matter her level of knowledge of the universe of the one who was behind Second-hand happinessthe visitor is overcome by emotion when opening the door of the Roy family house, built in 1905, one of the few in this sector of Saint-Boniface at the time, inspired by Quebec residences from the end of the XIXe century. The gallery surrounding it invites you to stroll and chat, while the books of Léon and Mélina Roy’s youngest daughter take on another dimension when you pass through the door leading to the kitchen. It was there that Gabrielle Roy was both witness and protagonist of a family and community life marked by the marginalization of Francophones in Manitoba, the economic misery caused by reversals of fortune and a global crisis. Despite everything, she cultivated a voracious appetite for books and culture.
Although the Gabrielle-Roy house is only accessible to the general public between the months of May to August, as well as to groups who request it the rest of the year, Sébastien Gaillard, general director of the organization, kindly opened it to the representative of the Duty in the middle of winter, on condition that he does like all the other visitors: he takes off his shoes! Indeed, the floors, made from British Columbia pine, are original, while everything else constitutes a clever assemblage of furniture and objects comparable to those of the period. Even the disparate colors on the walls were respected, another sign of the Roys’ modest means: we had to take the cans of paint we had on hand… And to find the original shades, 15 different layers were patiently removed.
After the departure of the Roys and the decades when the house was divided into housing, a non-profit organization acquired it in 1997. Its goal: to polish this jewel in memory of Gabrielle Roy. Under the leadership of the writer Annette Saint-Pierre, one of the important figures in this transformation, the place regained its initial appearance after three years of work at a cost of $600,000, and was finally opened to the public on June 19 2003.
For more than 20 years, this residence has been “the cornerstone of the French-speaking community [de la région], and conveys the spirit of Gabrielle Roy in this community,” according to Sébastien Gaillard, returning to the general management of the organization after a one-year stay in Moncton. He is never surprised by the emotion of visitors when they enter the attic, where the young woman spent time writing and dreaming of traveling the vast world in front of the skylight from which the horizon seemed infinite. More than anywhere in this house, his spirit seems truly present there.
Over the years, Sébastien Gaillard has seen curious people pass by, some more keen on architecture than literature, others keen connoisseurs of the life and work of the woman who first wanted to become an actress. They also take the opportunity to discover other significant places from the first 30 years of her existence: the schools she attended, the cathedral of Saint-Boniface and its cemetery, where her parents and some of her brothers and sisters are buried. But to know her well, nothing beats her books, according to Lise Gaboury-Diallo, professor of French literature at the University of Saint-Boniface.
Leave, return?
“I often tell my students that reading is the most economical way to travel,” says this great admirer of her famous compatriot. But that was no longer enough for the young Gabrielle Roy, who set off, first to Europe before the Second World War, then to Quebec. “She had no choice in leaving, according to Lise Gaboury-Diallo. Her goal was to broaden her horizons, to free herself from her environment, she was guided by a very strong humanism. She finally settled in Quebec, and we want to share her with you! » she says in an amused tone.
This uprooting and the tensions it generates have shaped the work of Gabrielle Roy, according to the literature professor, a dynamic that many Franco-Manitobans have experienced, regardless of the era. ” As much Second-hand happiness is a transitional work between the journalist that she was and the novelist that she became, as much as the rest of her work will be a great back and forth between the East and the West, between nature and urbanity . When she wrote The little water hen in 1951, after the immense success of Second-hand happiness, it was a kind of provocation, with the air of saying: “I’m not a realistic author, I’m not an urban author, that’s what I am.” » And although she may have lived a good part of her life just a stone’s throw from the Plains of Abraham, in Quebec, Gabrielle Roy will never stop revisiting the people and landscapes of her childhood and her life as a young teacher.
Lise Gaboury-Diallo teaches each year to students who have a relative knowledge of her work; some have already read it, others not at all. Marie-Ève Fontaine sometimes describes herself as a “ nerd by Gabrielle Roy. The Franco-Manitoban actress plays Clémence, the novelist’s sister, in the television series The world of Gabrielle Roy, written and directed by Renée Blanchar, broadcast on Tou.tv. As a teenager, she landed a dream job: guide in the famous house located at 375, rue Deschambault. This work encouraged him to delve into Roy’s work with devotion, which even inspired him to create a puppet show adapted from This summer that sangand in her relationship with her sister Bernadette, a nun with whom she maintained a rich correspondence for decades.
Now established in the national capital since her studies in theater at the University of Ottawa, Marie-Ève Fontaine has both bookish and intimate knowledge of Gabrielle Roy. Because she also had to make the decision to leave her community to refine her art and pursue her dreams. In Gabrielle Roy’s time as today, these departures from a minority environment carry great symbolic weight. “I felt that I was causing a hard blow to those around me,” remembers the actress. People insisted that I should not leave, that I was needed in Saint-Boniface. When Gabrielle Roy recounts her own dilemmas, I recognize myself through her. »
This distance has not, however, altered “the strong bond” that Marie-Ève Fontaine maintains with her corner of the country and her favorite author. The show This summer that sang was created thanks to the impetus of the Cercle Molière, a venerable theatrical company founded in 1925, where Gabrielle Roy made her acting debut around ten years later, and partly developed in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, in the summer home of the novelist in Charlevoix, now an artist’s residence. “It’s wonderful to be inspired by her stories, but even more so when we find ourselves in the places where they were written,” underlines with emotion the actress, who is undertaking a Canadian tour of this show intended for an audience of all. ages, which she hopes to present in Quebec in the near future.
Writers continue to exist through their books, but the emblematic places of their universe constitute a vital force to maintain their memory. Sébastien Gaillard is convinced of this, but is aware of the challenges facing the Gabrielle-Roy house: that of preservation and that of its relevance. “The house must remain in impeccable condition,” says the general manager, knowing what it costs to achieve this. As for its symbolic importance, the flame must be rekindled. “We receive a lot of English-speaking visitors and people from French immersion classes. But we must also continue to attract French speakers and young people; our guided tours must be rethought from a youth perspective. Recruiting volunteers is also a challenge, as is finding funding, especially in the shadow of the large museum institutions located on the other side of the Red River. »
For the visitor from Quebec, contact with this house is also imbued with a scent of irony: a few years before its official opening, in 2003, the Parti Québécois government had mentioned the idea of moving it to the Belle Province. Enough to boost the pride of Franco-Manitobans, who made it the jewel that it has become. “ […] All my life I have tried to make ends meet, perhaps I hoped to finally see the two faces of my country closely united,” wrote Gabrielle Roy at the end of her life. Uprooting the house of this citizen of the world who knew perfectly well where her roots were buried was certainly not part of her plans.
This report was made possible thanks to excellence grants from the Association of Independent Journalists of Quebec (AJIQ).