“The novel of Isoline”, David Turgeon

Summarizing a novel by David Turgeon is not an easy task. Master of digression, he himself points out his inability to close the multiple parentheses that the winding path of his thought blithely opens. When Isoline, an editorial assistant, saves award-winning novelist Paula Kahl from suicide, she takes her under her wing and commits to helping her bring her unfinished literary projects to fruition. When Paula Kahl finally takes her own life, her protégé is entrusted with the deceased’s archives in order to produce publishable unpublished material. This work will lead Isoline into a romantic delirium that will transform her forever. In a playful and clever process, David Turgeon invents a rhythmic language, in constant movement, which follows the casual thoughts of his protagonist. The writer uses the mise en abyme with humor and intelligence to reflect on the processes used in his writing and the reception they arouse. The known, however, is only an illusion, in this story leaving the reader “in an expectation that is as toxic as it is delicious. »

Isoline’s novel

★★★ 1/2

David Turgeon, Le Quartanier, Montreal, 2024, 208 pages

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