Québec’s new regional fiction: Louise Penny and Johanne Seymour

Abstract

Louise Penny’s Still Life (2005) and Johanne Seymour’s Le Cri du cerf (2005) are both murder-mysteries set in the Eastern Townships, in south-eastern and south-central Québec. Much of the region borders the United States. To varying degrees, the border makes its presence felt in the novels by Penny and Seymour, along with other landmarks familiar to domestic audiences. This article argues that the apparent situatedness of the texts is, however, challenged by their adherence to the formal conventions of the murder-mystery and associated subgenres. In so doing, it claims that Still Life and Le Cri du cerf foster multi-layered readings which, in bringing together the hyper-local and the international, prompt a reconsideration of understandings of regional fiction.

Citation

Morgan. (2021). Québec’s new regional fiction: Louise Penny and Johanne Seymour. British Journal of Canadian Studies, 33(2), 225-240. https://doi.org/10.3828/bjcs.2021.15

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 5, 2021
• Publication Date: Sep 27, 2021
• Journal: British Journal of Canadian Studies
• Print ISSN: 0269-9222
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 225-240
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/bjcs.2021.15
• Keywords: Eastern Townships, murder mystery, Louise Penny, Johanne Seymour
• Publisher URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/806470
• Related Public URLs: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/bjcs.2021.15