In his new novel, Toronto never blue, author Marie-Hélène Larochelle shines the spotlight on the humanity and anger of young itinerants and old sex workers. These eternal extras of the city occupy the leading role of a book as raw as it is poignant.
Gathered under one roof, Mama’, Jordan, Bridget and Dakota take care of their bodies worn out over the years. To survive, they must still continue to accumulate customers eager for their flesh. Outside, young Hannah wanders the streets of the Queen City clinging to a music box as her only home. Nearby, Carol walks from shelter to shelter, dragging her heavy carcass which weighs her down.
In their own way, each of these characters embodies a reality that is difficult to watch. Toronto never blue describes the daily life of the most deprived, those for whom the sky is always gray. Condemned to the indifference of passers-by, these women nevertheless have a lot to say about men “who fuck with violence to forget the control they lose over their lives”.
After Daniil and Vanya (2017) and I follow the flow of mud (2021), the author from Quebec signs a third captivating and destabilizing novel. Her writing, which appeals to the senses, allows you to see Mama’s bruises, but also to smell the garbage in which Hannah digs to find her precious blanket.
In many ways, this work by the literature professor at York University in Toronto echoes reality. At the bottom of a filthy alley, Carol ends up giving birth to a child without asking for help, because “her life has taught her that this is never an option”. This episode recalls the true story of a homeless woman who gave birth alone in a wooded area in Gatineau last summer.
With her rhythmic writing, Marie-Hélène Larochelle skillfully describes the constant battle led by Hannah and Carol, two homeless people trying to survive in the Ontario metropolis. If they are too often dehumanized, the author makes them touching by revealing their dreams and their ingenuity.
“Interchangeable” men
At the same time, the novelist accurately relates the exhaustion of the four elderly sex workers who populate the world of the book, Mama’, Jordan, Dakota and Bridget. They would like to be able to “age in silence, like a tree”, but in the hungry looks of their customers, they see no way out.
The fatigue of these women, however, takes on the air of revolt. They are fed up with these “interchangeable” men who “all want the same thing and who get excited by the same words moaned so many times”.
For the four sisters who never sleep at night, the only source of comfort is having found each other. But the city is merciless for those who live on the margins of society.
A punchy novel as effective as it is disturbing.