Having given up on writing a trilogy around the central character of The goddess of fire flies (Le Quartanier, 2014) for fear of falling into repetition, Geneviève Pettersen was unaware that she was going to reconnect with Catherine Pelletier, self-proclaimed “queen of everything” at 14, by undertaking the writing of a novel on the separation from a couple.
“I always wanted to make in fiction the moment when the couple separates; I even had pitched a TV project before the release of Marriage Story (2019), by Noah Baumbach. In fiction, it is either a couple who meet, or a couple after separation. What interested me was to show the couple during the separation. After 15 pages, I realized that the character of the novel was Catherine. And Catherine is not fine. In fact, I think she’s angry. queen of nothingit’s a Kill Bill matrimonial! After her, the deluge! confides the novelist.
We live in a hypersexualized society, but women who express their desires are scary. On Instagram, when it’s girls whose job it is to be pitounes, we think it’s okay, but when it’s someone in real life, we say that she’s a schemer, a bad girl , a bad mother. A woman who knows what she wants is scary, an older woman is scary, a woman who says she loves power and money is scary.
Journalist in a major Montreal daily, married to Fred, couch potato who takes care of their children, Juliette and Henri, household chores and meals, co-owner of a pretty house in a family neighborhood, Catherine seems to have it all, but it’s not enough. Like the teenager she was, Catherine is thirsty for power and wants to seduce all men. By neglecting husband and children to live out her fantasies, she risks raising eyebrows.
“We live in a hypersexualized society, but women who express their desires are scary. On Instagram, when it’s girls whose job it is to be pitounes, we think it’s okay, but when it’s someone in real life, we say that she’s a schemer, a bad girl , a bad mother. A woman who knows what she wants is scary, an older woman is scary, a woman who says she loves power and money is scary. We are so Judeo-Christians that we were taught that was wrong. You have to be humble; humility, among women, is a quality that is highlighted. In the early seasons ofOD, guys wanted girls who were sweet and easygoing, not women who talked, who claimed their desires. »
thirties crisis
Not hesitating to skip one or more meals and to run on her elliptical whenever she can to keep a slim and firm body, Catherine is as ruthless towards herself as towards other women. In remarks tinged with fierce humor and a cruel sense of observation by the narrator, we have to admit that Geneviève Pettersen holds up a barely distorted mirror of our society where the diktats of beauty are increasingly more demanding.
“We live in a ruthless world and we are the product of an education that allows us to judge women and their physique,” says the author. Even though we talk a lot about self-acceptance, I don’t know many people who are impervious to all that pressure at the end of the day. Me, I find it violent, and what Catherine carries is the full weight of this violence. She is violent to herself and I imagine that she is violent to others because she can’t take it anymore. If we recognize ourselves in Catherine, it is because, like her, we are in criss. »
“Basically, we’re just mean girls with credit cards,” Catherine says in queen of nothing. Despite the years, life as a couple, motherhood, the rebellious ex-teen who saw his destiny change following a meteorological disaster has not changed so much. And the crisis of the thirties that she is about to cross will be just as intense as her crisis of adolescence.
” It’s the same ! points out Geneviève Pettersen. Shitty office intrigues are the same as in high school. There is still jealousy, envy, the desire for transgression, except that the desire for transgression when you are an adult is another matter. When you’re a teenager, transgressing is sneaking your Walkman into school, when you’re an adult, it’s cheating on your husband or double parking. »
For flirting with you
To spice up her life, Catherine flirts with Mathieu, married and father of a family, whom she meets at Juliette’s swimming lessons. Now, like the lovers of Dangerous Liaisons, Catherine and Mathieu rarely see each other, but write to each other a lot. The texting exchanges sometimes take place under Fred’s nose, whose attention is caught by a hockey game or an episode of Game Of Thrones.
“Thanks to social networks, you can experience incredible epistolary stories while you watch TV. You don’t even have to leave the house anymore! Of course, when we meet, we can be disappointed, because it’s the hunt that is interesting and the reality rarely lives up to the fiction. »
Even if Mathieu is not the incarnation of the ideal man, Catherine will no longer be able to content herself with virtually jumping the fence. What was meant to be a simple flirtation will lead to serious consequences. The masks will fall. Words will exceed thoughts. Improper actions will be taken.
“I wanted to show a really ugly separation, being in the eye of the storm. I wanted to play inside the reader’s head, to take him out of stereotypes. With this book, I also wanted to show all the paradoxes and all the nuances. Whether in love, in motherhood, in working relationships, nothing is ever clear. »
Declaring that she wishes all unhappy couples to separate, the author, screenwriter and columnist invites men to read queen of nothing in order to better understand what is going on in a woman’s head, even if they risk being shaken.
“The infidelity of women is not a subject that goes over very well. We accept it if they feel very guilty and there is redemption, as in On the road to Madison (1995), by Clint Eastwood. I never understood why people liked that movie. She stays there like a thick with her husband and is going to love the other guy until the end of time. wow! Beautiful love story! Why does a woman always have to sacrifice herself? On the road to Madison, it’s bullshit! concludes Geneviève Pettersen, laughing.