''Chasse à l'homme'' is a novel written by Canadian author Sophie Létourneau, published in 2020 by La Peuplade. It won the 2020
Governor General's Literary Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields.
The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for French-language fiction.
Backstory
After completing her studies in literature, Létourneau consulted a
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...
who would reveal to her, the man in her life. Deciding not to wait, she pursued him for six years and then took another six years to write about her hunt for the man, which is in French, the title of her novel, ''Chasse à l'homme''.
Synopsis
''Chasse à l'homme'' is a collection of anecdotes, thoughts and quotes in which Sophie Létourneau consults a
fortune teller
Fortune telling is the spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115–116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle ...
who predicts that she would find the love of her life thanks to a book.
Awards
''Chasse à l'homme'' won the 2020
Governor General's Award for French-language fiction
The Governor General's Award for French-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in French. It is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each ...
The novel was generally well received in Létourneau's home province of
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. Sarah-Émilie Nault of ''
Le Journal de Montréal
is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. Established by Pierre Pé ...
'' writes "Chasse à l'homme offers a reflection on writing as beautiful as the memories that we manage to build for ourselves."''La Presse'' columnists Chantal Guy and Marc Cassivi classified the book as "their most beautiful literary discoveries of 2020", and described it as "a sparkling reflection of intelligence on the place of women in literature.”