In this classic debut by the French Canadian author, Florentine Lacasse 19, and Jean Levesque, a bit older, are in the slums of St Henri, part of Montreal in 1940. There are endless scenes depicting the awkwardness of young dating. I won’t give away much of the fairly simple plot but the characters never cease to be interesting from the eternally optimistic Azarius to the equally pessimistic Rose-Anna, his wife. They uniformly struggle with poverty moving frequently with their huge family. The pervasive influence of the Catholic Church is well portrayed.
There are lively arguments about the war and conscription, with know-it-all men spouting nonsense to whoever would listen and eternally optimistic men always scheming to make a dollar out of it. The war becomes the default way out of poverty for many young men, not out of any sense of patriotism, but purely to make a living wage.
The writing is graphic, describing scenes clearly. “The hum of the sewing machine nibbled at the silence. It stopped at times and then you could hear the kettle whistling” One old lady “…seemed to have been transmuted into the negation of all hope…she liked to think that she was on her way to her Creator laden with indulgences…she saw herself achieving paradise like a traveler who had taken lifelong precautions to ensure herself a comfortable stay in that last resort. She had put up with her purgatory here on earth.”
The latter part of the book becomes distinctly darker, with a child dying, even worse poverty and malnutrition, and two unwanted pregnancies even though the sex is only alluded to obliquely. The tin flute of the title is barely mentioned but may be somehow a vague symbol of what the child wants but can’t afford. There is no time shift and the entire book covers less than one year.
The plot is not complex and there are no loose ends but the vivid description of the lives of the poverty-stricken people of St. Henri reflect a reality that no longer exists. St Henri has now become largely gentrified.
I suspect that this book appeals more to older readers than the young who may have trouble relating to the era. In the interest of domestic tranquility, I need to give it it a high rating as my wife recommended it, and although we often disagree about books, I agree with her on this one as I thoroughly enjoyed it.
4.5/5
Thanks, Vera.
The Passionate Reader 