Posted at 4:00 p.m.
If colleague Richard Labbé chose Parc Roger-Rousseau, in Anjou, as a meeting point for the interview, it is because the place fed his imagination in the creation of the novel he has just published with Editions Hugo and Co.
“When I moved here in 2018, my youngest son, William, started playing baseball almost all the time on this beautiful field,” recalls Richard Labbé.
“I liked it, coming here. For my son, of course. But also for the other parents, who were super fun. His friends on the team too. The atmosphere was sickening. »
The baseball diamond was so in his mind that he even returned to it in his dreams. “One morning, I got up and quickly needed a pencil and a piece of paper,” says Richard Labbé. He had just dreamed of Molly, a girl who threw balls in a neighborhood park like Roger-Rousseau.
“The story stayed in my head for two or three weeks,” continues the journalist.
Finally, during a trip to Thailand with his family, he took the time to write down the scraps of what was to become his first novel.
Baseball fan?
We know Richard Labbé’s passion for hockey. Does he also have a great interest in baseball? It all depends on the era you are referring to.
“I lost all trace of love for baseball in 2004 when the Expos moved,” says the author. Before that, I was a big fan. In the 1980s, my father used to take me to the stadium. I had lots of great memories. »
The departure of the Expos remained “across the throat”.
In the pages of the novel, we feel this nostalgic love for this sport. “Baseball is dying,” goes so far as to say the character of Hank Lemieux, a former professional pitcher now at the head of a food truck.
Photo Hugo-Sébastien Aubert, THE PRESS
Richard Labbe
Nostalgia is at the center of the story, because for me, baseball is that. Advanced statistics, it completely repels me. But the smell of hot dogs, mustard, pretzels, it picks me up.
Richard Labbe
Despite being a little gruff, Hank passes on his knowledge to Molly to perfect her throws. “I purposely put a character who was going to be a kind of wise old man. […] Maybe it’s because of my love for Karate Kid when I was little,” says Richard Labbé. According to him, in sport as in life, it is important to have a “wise old man or old woman who can help us”. “The word ‘old’ is intended to be sympathetic and in quotation marks”, he specifies.
A woman among men
Molly, the novel’s main character, dreams of playing Major League Baseball. Is this a plea in favor of a greater place for women in professional sport? “It’s mostly that I think it’s possible. […] It is not absurd to believe that in a special position, as a baseball pitcher or a football kicker, there could be women,” he replies, giving in particular the example of Ève Gascon, who kept the goals in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Throughout the novel, we observe a certain naivety in Molly, who believes she can break through to the professionals after a few good throws against amateur players. A character trait reminiscent of Bridget Jones or Andrea Sachs (The devil wears Prada). These resemblances with outstanding characters of the chick-lit are they wanted? ” No way. That probably comes from my years as a freelancer at Elle Quebec “laughs the author, indicating that it is not a genre that he reads.
He also had no typical reader in mind when writing his story. “I just tried to write in the most accessible way possible to reach the widest possible audience. »
And do you have to be a baseball fan to dive into Molly’s world? “So far, I’ve had a lot of women tell me they don’t like baseball, but they liked my book. That’s a huge compliment,” says Richard Labbé. For her, Molly’s story is above all a story of perseverance.
“It’s a feel-good story. […] This story deserves to be read with your feet in the sand with a small drink and a parasol,” the author believes. With summer approaching, the invitation is launched.
A girl and a butterfly ball
Richard Labbe
Hugo and Co.
286p.