I'm reading the French version of Mister Y. by Scarlett Thomas and that is an extraordinary thing. I usually read in English although French is my mother tongue. It is a remarkable fact that I'm reading this book in French when I could be reading it in its original English version. I usually read in English because I find the language explains reality as I would explain it. And perhaps I find English so eloquent simply because the songs and books which are often at the forefront in my Montreal culture are in English -there's more choice. There are so many authors who write in English and who I happen to love so why would I choose to read a novel in French when I could choose its original English version?

Because of my mother's voice.

 My early childhood was spent admiring the grown up novels my mother read. The covers of the mystery novels my mom read (mostly Agatha Christie) had captivating images, evocative and intense and I saw my mom at her most content when she sank behind them for a good read. I couldn't wait to share that world with her.

When I got older, 12 years old or so, I finally accessed the power to be of an age where I could understand and be interested in these more intricate, more grown up books my mom read. She had recounted some of the tales to me over time and now we got to share the details, the atmosphere, the taste of them as she read excerpts or whole stories to me. When I was sick, I was sure to request her reading from Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin or Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

  She read with a luminous understanding of the language, of the story. She commanded it, tamed it. The characters , each in turn had the right expressiveness, be it a teenage girl speaking or an old Belgian detective.. When she read a book to me, it felt like she had written it.

And this is why I read English things in French. 

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