To put an end to the pressure of a certain ideal of the couple, unique, romantic, and above all long-lasting, 15 feathers offer 15 intimate and personal reflections, to be read between two bites of chocolate. An offbeat proposal in bookstores this Tuesday, right for Valentine’s Day.
Before going any further, a clarification: 15 short essays on love, published by Somme tout, is not a light read, despite its launch in this sweet month of February. Completely the opposite. It would be very bad to know the director of the collective, Marilyse Hamelin (to whom we already owe 15 short essays on beauty). Read the subtitle: Small and large reconstruction sites. Now, who says reconstruction first says deconstruction. And many questions. And that’s exactly what this committed, engaging and fashionable collection does.
A word about the authors (mostly female authors), of all ages, orientations and origins, from Mylène Mackay to Ouanessa Younsi via Laura Doyle Péan, Maude Landry and Fabiola Nyrva Aladin. Without forgetting Julien Gravelle, the only and no less worthy representative of the male sex. “I would have been curious to hear from several men, straight, cisgender,” specifies Marilyse Hamelin, whom we met earlier this week at the Atomic café, a nice haunt in her neighborhood. “But I’ve had a lot of rejections. It’s very vulnerable […] and I think it scares talking about things of love, things that have always been associated with women…”
Besides, let’s say it: “Love concerns everyone and it’s super important”, she continues, in an interview as dynamic as her subject and exploded as her treatment. “It can hurt, it affects mental health, there is no subject more important than love! »
The importance of solidarity
We remember that Marilyse Hamelin experienced militant exhaustion a few years ago. Since then, the feminist is also visibly better, even rather well, thank you. “The feminist voice in these two books, and more than ever with this one, did me a lot of good. That’s the answer to my exhaustion, she thinks: this solidarity. In this group work, I experienced a lot of solidarity. She also fell in love, we learn in the first chapter. “Yes, and that’s a bonus,” she confirms with a smile, before clarifying: “But it’s not the heart of my life. »
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Marilyse Hamelin, author, editor and director of the collective 15 short essays on lovepublished by Somme tout
And that’s kind of the message of the book: let’s stop overvaluing romantic love!
Marilyse Hamelin, author, editor and director of the collective 15 short essays on love
To do this, first thing: self-love. “It sounds simple, but it’s the starting point. You really have to talk about that before talking about the rest”, a point that also comes up through many texts.
Speaking of the texts, they cast a very wide net. On the side of deconstruction, let us underline Raphaëlle Corbeil’s very pedagogical essay on love imbalance (to put an end to gendered socialization), Mylène Mackay’s refusal of toxic loves (in the form of a manifesto), and this coming out in rather unexpected and certainly courageous confinement by Maude Nepveu-Villeneuve (when “confinement frees”, she writes nicely). On the reconstruction side, several surprises, in particular this declaration of love for the animals, the teachers, the houses, without forgetting the children. To life, finally.
It was to be expected: few texts here celebrate traditional love. Apart from the last, signed Ouanessa Younsi. “It’s a celebration, but in reality, nuance Marilyse Hamelin. Apart from romanticism. […] And it’s so hopeful! »
Because, and at the risk of repeating ourselves, the aim of the book is not to say that love is not important, quite the contrary. But rather to do away with a certain single model. “It’s funny, no one has discussed polyamory, I wouldn’t have hated it,” notes the editor. But the idea is to say: everything is possible, everything must be possible. […] It’s not weird to be single is not weird wanting a mortgage with someone other than your romantic partner is not weird to go to a shower with your best friend. In short: “Love is more than a couple. »
And to echo his previous book (on beauty), which ultimately carried exactly the same message, “it’s okay not to meet the standards”…
Collection 15 short essays on loveunder the direction of Marilyse Hamelin, Somme tout editions, arrives in bookstores on February 14.
15 short essays on love
Under the direction of Marilyse Hamelin
All in All Editions
152 pages