{"id":23290,"date":"2024-12-18T07:40:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T14:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=23290"},"modified":"2024-12-17T16:47:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T23:47:23","slug":"day-of-epiphany-by-jerome-bourgault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/?p=23290","title":{"rendered":"Day of Epiphany by Jerome Bourgault"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A triumph\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Set against Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s Grande Noirceur\u2014the Great Darkness, Bourgault\u2019s latest novel is a haunting exploration of institutional corruption and systemic abuse through the lens of the Duplessis Orphans scandal. Sister Cassandra Lalonde, reclassified from teacher to nurse, watches helplessly as her students are falsely labeled psychiatric patients and subjected to horrific abuse. Alone against the Catholic Church, Duplessis\u2019 authoritarian government, and medical authorities, Cassandra\u2019s desperate attempts to protect the children lead to drastic consequences and a shocking criminal revelation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bourgault\u2019s sharp, compassionate prose skillfully captures the claustrophobic dread of Sainte-Madeleine\u2019s walls. Sandra\u2019s transformation from obedient nun to guilt-ridden truth-teller anchors the novel\u2019s emotional weight, while Father Normand\u2019s arc reflects Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s struggle between silence and accountability. Diane\u2019s fractured memories and her relationships with the other orphans\u2014Eleanora, mysterious and defiant; Suzanne, fueled by rage; and H\u00e9l\u00e8ne, clinging to fragile hope\u2014add emotional depth to the bleak setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alternating between past and present, the narrative unflinchingly delves into falsified records, coerced adoptions, and institutional complicity, painting a damning yet humanized picture of a forgotten tragedy. The confession booth scene between Sandra and Normand\u2014an intimate reckoning with complicity and moral decay\u2014reverberates throughout the story. Bourgault\u2019s writing is raw yet deeply compassionate. He avoids gratuitous depictions of violence, relying instead on evocative details to convey the trauma endured by his characters. Scenes of quiet rebellion\u2014like orphans sneaking cookies from the pantry\u2014offer moments of levity against the novel\u2019s heavier themes. Impeccably written, meticulously researched, and rooted in historical detail, this is a masterful exploration of generational trauma, moral reckoning, and the search for justice. Absolutely addictive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/books.friesenpress.com\/store\/title\/119734000439042013\/Jerome-J-Bourgault-Day-of-Epiphany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Pub date October 23, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">FriesenPress<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">ISBN 978-1-03-832248-7<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Pages 366<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Price $9.99 Ebook, $26.99 Paperback, $37.99 Hardcover<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A triumph\u2026 Set against Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s Grande Noirceur\u2014the Great Darkness, Bourgault\u2019s latest novel is a haunting exploration of institutional corruption and systemic abuse through the lens of the Duplessis Orphans scandal. Sister Cassandra Lalonde, reclassified from teacher to nurse, watches helplessly as her students are falsely labeled psychiatric patients and subjected to horrific abuse. Alone against the Catholic Church, Duplessis\u2019 authoritarian government, and medical authorities, Cassandra\u2019s desperate attempts to protect the children lead to drastic consequences [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145610851,"featured_media":23292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[723770553,7223,91,3328,723769808,178,723770549,723770556,723770551,1584897,92732,1136176,723770548,723769804,723769803,723770554,723770552,723769805,723770550,1473,1008073,856121,309,723770555,349],"class_list":["post-23290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1950s-psych-hospital","tag-author","tag-blogging","tag-book-reviews","tag-bookblogger","tag-books","tag-day-of-epiphany","tag-friesenpress","tag-grande-noirceur","tag-historical-drama","tag-historical-fiction","tag-indie-books","tag-jerome-bourgault","tag-kindle","tag-kobo","tag-les-orphelins-de-duplessis","tag-maurice-duplessis","tag-nook","tag-quebec","tag-reading","tag-review-blog","tag-review-website","tag-reviews","tag-roman-catholic-church","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/day-of-.jpg?fit=275%2C425&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pajKJn-63E","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/145610851"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23290"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23294,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23290\/revisions\/23294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theprairiesbookreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}