Items related to Scenes of Childhood
About the Author
Bernadette Griffin was born in QuÉbec City. At nineteen, she left her birthplace to go to St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing in Montreal. After graduation, she worked at Jeffrey Hale Hospital in QuÉbec City, then as a clinical instructor at St. Mary's Hospital in Montreal. A year later, she left nursing behind to raise a family and be with her children. While raising her five children, she completed piano studies she had begun as a child, obtained an A.R.C.T. diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto and opened a studio in her home. She also studied voice, choral conducting and orchestral conducting. After conducting a 60-voice choir at Holy Family Church for five years, she and her husband, John, founded the Donovan Chorale, a concert choir in Montreal. A few years later, she founded the Chanteurs d'OrphÉe de MontrÉal, a chamber choir dedicated to the performance of contemporary works. Both were prize-winning choirs, winning critical acclaim in Canada and beyond. In 1985, she left her music career behind and completed a B.A. at Concordia University in Languages and Translation. Since 1990, she has worked as a freelance translator, specializing in the medical field. In recent years, she has published several essays, feature articles and poems. This is her first book of fiction. She and her husband live in Montreal in winter and on the Kingston Peninsula in New Brunswick from May to October.
From the Inside Flap
With her Irish story-telling lilt, the author spins fact and fiction into narrative, her early years in Quebec City serving as inspiration. We meet Johnny and Marie-Ange, their marriage reflecting the French-English component of the city. We meet Johnny's sister, the flamboyant Francie, who makes salads at the ChÂteau Frontenac for Premier Duplessis. We meet the string of neighbors who move in and out of the first-floor apartment on Rue Saint-Joachim. We know there will be trouble with the tavern next to the church and with sharp-tongued neighbors who keep their eyes on everyone's private lives.The inspiration for the title, Scenes of Childhood, comes from Robert Schumann's suite of short piano pieces, Scenes from Childhood. The author musician, singer and conductor with her husband founded the Donovan Chorale, and later the Chanteurs d'OrphÉe de Montreal. They live in Montreal and summer on the Kingston Peninsula, New Brunswick.
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