The conversation between Loïc and the serial killer’s wife is drawn from “The Truck Stop Killer,” an article by Vanessa Veselka that appeared in the October 2012 issue of GQ.
As always, Antoine Tanguay’s involvement was essential for the development of this book.
Thanks to Chloé Legault, Tania Massault, and Christine Eddie for their comments; to Dominique Fortier, my unsparing and indispensable editor; and to Sophie Marcotte for the final review.
Thank you, Alexandre, Catherine, Robert, Chantal, and Claude, my brave first readers.
Thank you, Sabrine Leblond-Murphy for clarifying the medical aspects of my stories, and for taking me on a fascinating tour of the labyrinthine Royal Victoria Hospital.
In 2015 the Royal Victoria Hospital closed, and a hospital of the same name was opened in a different location. No decision has been taken as yet concerning the fate of the old Royal Victoria Hospital buildings.
Thank you, Daniel Villeneuve, forever a son of Gagnonville, for his descriptions of the ghost city.
Finally, thanks to the members of my family, old and young, for understanding, respecting, encouraging, and reading.
About the Author
Born in 1979, Catherine Leroux is a writer and a translator. Her three books — Madame Victoria (2015), Le mur mitoyen (2013), and La marche en forêt (2011) — were hailed both by the critics and the public. Nominated for Le grand prix du livre de Montréal, Le mur mitoyen received the France-Quebec Prize. Its English version, The Party Wall, her English-language debut, was selected for Indies Introduce for Summer/Fall 2016, shortlisted for both the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the French-American Foundation Translation Prize, and won the 2016 Governor General’s Award for Translation. Catherine Leroux lives and works in Montreal.
About the Translator
LAZER LEDERHENDLER is a full-time literary translator specializing in Québécois fiction and non-fiction. His translations have earned awards and distinctions in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S.A. He has translated the works of noted authors including Gaétan Soucy, Nicolas Dickner, Edem Awumey, Perrine Leblanc, and Catherine Leroux. He lives in Montreal with the visual artist Pierrette Bouchard.
Biblioasis International Translation Series
1. I Wrote Stone: The Selected Poetry of Ryszard Kapuściński (Poland)
Translated by Diana Kuprel and Marek Kusiba
2. Good Morning Comrades
by Ondjaki (Angola)
Translated by Stephen Henighan
3. Kahn & Engelmann
by Hans Eichner (Austria-Canada)
Translated by Jean M. Snook
4. Dance with Snakes
by Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador)
Translated by Lee Paula Springer
5. Black Alley
by Mauricio Segura (Quebec)
Translated by Dawn M. Cornelio
6. The Accident
by Mihail Sebastian (Romania)
Translated by Stephen Henighan
7. Love Poems
by Jaime Sabines (Mexico)
Translated by Colin Carberry
8. The End of the Story
by Liliana Heker (Argentina)
Translated by Andrea G. Labinger
9. The Tuner of Silences
by Mia Couto (Mozambique)
Translated by David Brookshaw
10. For as Far as the Eye Can See
by Robert Melançon (Quebec)
Translated by Judith Cowan
11. Eucalyptus
by Mauricio Segura (Quebec)
Translated by Donald Winkler
12. Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret
by Ondjaki (Angola)
Translated by Stephen Henighan
13. Montreal Before Spring
by Robert Melançon (Quebec)
Translated by Donald McGrath
14. Pensativities: Essays and Provocations
by Mia Couto (Mozambique)
Translated by David Brookshaw
15. Arvida
by Samuel Archibald (Quebec)
Translated by Donald Winkler
16. The Orange Grove
by Larry Tremblay (Quebec)
Translated by Sheila Fischman
17. The Party Wall
by Catherine Leroux (Quebec)
Translated by Lazer Lederhendler
18. Black Bread
by Emili Teixidor (Catalonia)
Translated by Peter Bush
19. Boundary
by Andrée A. Michaud (Quebec)
Translated by Donald Winkler
20. Red, Yellow, Green
by Alejandro Saravia (Bolivia-Canada)
Translated by María José Giménez
21. Bookshops: A Reader’s History
by Jorge Carrión (Spain)
Translated by Peter Bush
22. Transparent City
by Ondjaki (Angola)
Translated by Stephen Henighan
23. Oscar
by Mauricio Segura (Quebec)
Translated by Donald Winkler
24. Madame Victoria
by Catherine Leroux (Quebec)
Translated by Lazer Lederhendler
Copyright
Copyright © Catherine Leroux, 2015
Translation Copyright © Lazer Lederhendler, 2018
First published in French by Éditions Alto, Quebec City, 2015.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or a license from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright license visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.
FIRST EDITION
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Leroux, Catherine, 1979-
[Madame Victoria. English]
Madame Victoria / Catherine Leroux ; translated from the French by Lazer Lederhendler.
(Biblioasis international translation series ; no. 24)
Translation of French book with same title.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-77196-207-0 (softcover).--ISBN 978-1-77196-208-7 (ebook)
I. Lederhendler, Lazer, 1950-, translator II. Title. III. Title: Madame Victoria. English. IV. Series: Biblioasis international translation series ; no. 24
PS8623.E685M3213 2018 C843’.6 C2018-901732-5
C2018-901733-3
Edited by Stephen Henighan
Copy-edited by Cat London
Cover designed by Natalie Olsen
Typeset by Chris Andrechek
Published with the generous assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country. Biblioasis also acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), an agency of the Government of Ontario, which last year funded 1,709 individual artists and 1,078 organizations in 204 communities across Ontario, for a total of $52.1 million, and the contribution of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation. Biblioasis also acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the National Translation Program for Book Publishing, an initiative of the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013–2018: Education, Immigration, Communities, for our translation activities.