From the judges

Here is what the judges for the Whistler Independent Book Awards had to say about Day of Epiphany. My profound gratitude to Darcie Friesen Hossack and Stella Harvey for their support and enthusiasm for my novel!

Read this book.

No, really. The review could end right there. But since I want to make sure everyone buys multiple copies of Jerome J Bourgault’s Day of Epiphany (for yourselves, for family, especially for your local library), I’m going to use every word of this space given to me.

Day of Epiphany accomplishes everything that brilliant, important literature is supposed to do: It is beautifully rendered. It brings its characters to light and life, with form and breath. It informs. And it engages the reader’s empathy and their moral compass, orienting it towards both past and present injustice.

The injustice in this novel is profound. In Québec, in the 1940s and 50s, when the Sainte-Madeleine Institute (orphanage) burns down in the middle of the night, killing several children, a perfect storm of religious, governmental and societal cruelty gathers strength around the survivors.

“… children who died… were the embodiment of sin,” Bourgault writes, “… the sin of their unwed mothers.” And with that, when the institute is rebuilt as a psychiatric hospital, and the children “reclassified” as mental patients to garner more funds from Québec’s corrupt premier and its purse, the horrors begin for those on the “bottom rung of the social latter… (with) no rights under the law.”

Beginning as a sort of confession, Day of Epiphany is ultimately Sister Cassandra’s story. And yet, in the various circles of hell that surround her, we experience the lives of three young girls, along with others who are both caught up in the same awake nightmares, and those whose purpose it is to sustain those nightmares. And while we experience in this novel forced institutionalization at nearly its worst, we also come into the circles of “powerful men who paid extra for discretion and even more for youth.”

Darcie Friesen Hassock

A searing indictment of a shameful and violent time in Canada’s history, Day of Epiphany chronicles the plight of the children of an orphanage, later turned mental institution through the financial support of Quebec’s Duplessis government at the time. Told mostly from a nun’s perspective, we meet many of the characters she is charged with, feel sister Cassandra’s guilt as she sees what is happening to the children, and cheer for those children who refuse to bow down to the neglect, torture, and abuse they are subjected to. I felt the innocence of the children when again and again, they asked, “what did we do wrong?” And I also felt incredible anger and disgust as I turned page after page to witness the abuses dispensed by nuns, priests and doctors who basically experimented on these children. This was an upsetting read, one filled with strong characters; difficult, yet necessary details and lots of suspense. Everyone should read this book and understand this despicable period of Canada’s history in the hopes we never, never let it happen again.

Stella Harvey

WHISTLER!!!

Guess how it went…

As you may remember, Day of Epiphany was named a finalist for the Whistler Independent Book Award (WIBA) for fiction back in July. It was such an honour for my novel to be counted among the top three fiction titles that, as far as I was concerned, I’d already won.

The awards were to be announced during the Whistler Writers Festival, at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler at the end of October. There was never any doubt that I would attend. I’d never been to Whistler, my conjointe and I were in need of a holiday, and I still had a 33.3% chance of coming home with an award. Any way you cut it, it was going to be fantastic experience. Win/win/win!

“I want to see mountains again, Gandalf. MOUNTAINS!”

We arrived in Vancouver on a rainy Tuesday morning, spent two days exploring the city, the parks, the markets, and every single meal was excellent! The drive to Whistler on Thursday evening was mostly in the dark, so the spectacular scenery of our destination wouldn’t be revealed until the next morning. It was worth the wait!

Friday was the big day. It began with a workshop called Publish Like a Pro. Extremely helpful: made me wish I’d taken it two novels ago. Then a delicious lunch event with the other finalists at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, then back to the Fairmont where the finalists from each category were invited to give a brief talk and a reading from their nominated work before a packed house. Cue butterflies!

Everyone was so brilliant that within minutes I’d convinced myself that there was NO WAY I was going to take home the award. Cue impostors syndrome!

I was scheduled to read fourth. It was a very upbeat affair and the hall was just buzzing, so not wanting to bring down the whole room, I chose to read as happy a section as I could find in my dark novel (not an easy task). I decided on a section where the young orphans commandeer a wheelchair and take turns racing around the common room of the institute. It’s a moment of joyful rebellion and it received a warm response from the audience, but I still felt badly out-classed. Ah well, it was an honour just to be there. Right?

WIBA finalists, left to right: me, Lisa MacDonald, Carolyn Roberts, Diane Kirby, Robin Anne Ettles, Kim Hudson, Anna McCarthy, and Trevor Atkins

The main event was less than an hour later: All Hallows Eve: Murder and Mayhem. Sandwiched between improv sketches and an author panel conversation was the big reveal: the Whistler Independent Book Award winners.

When the award for fiction was announced, I fell immediately into a brief state of paralysis:

“And the winner is: Day of Epiphany, by Jerome J Bourgault!”

I don’t remember much else after that, except for a sudden and steady flow of congratulations, a lot of warm smiles and hugs, and much later on—after book sales and signings in the lobby— being unable to find a place to eat after 10:30 on a Friday night. We ended up splitting half an Oh Henry! and half a KitKat bar in the hotel room.

Saturday morning, another quick breakfast—by the way, I challenge anyone to find a bad cup of coffee in Whistler—and back to the Fairmont for another reading event. The award winner from each category was invited to sit in on the corresponding panel and participate in the discussion. The fiction panel was moderated Antonio Michael Downing, host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter, and featured Clea Young, author of Welcome to the Neighbourhood, and Giller Prize nominee Eddy Boudel Tan, author of The Tiger and the Cosmonaut. And me! In addition to answering questions, I had to give another reading from my novel, this one a bit longer and without the preamble. Needless to say I had nothing prepared—remember, I wasn’t supposed to win—so I’d spent the late hours the previous night and that morning scrambling for something appropriate. I settled on what I consider to be the very soul of the novel—if you’ve read the book, it’s Cassandra’s speech toward the end about cruelty; a heavy read but it’s the very essence of the book, and it was very well received. If anyone in the audience still didn’t know what Day of Epiphany was all about at its core, this explained it.

Fiction panel, seated left to right: Antonio Michael Downing, Eddy Boudel Tan, me, Clea Young.
Photo credit: Joern Rohde Photography

Then, before I knew it, it was over. We sold a few more books after the last reading, then spent the rest of the day wandering around town, visited the Whistler Art Museum (a must-see!), and collapsed after an exquisite dinner at the hotel brasserie.

It was an unforgettable experience! The people of Whistler were perfect hosts, and they are rightfully proud of their town and of their writing community! I’ve taken home some great memories of my time there, and having sold a few copies of both of my novels, I know part of me will remain.

The Perpetual Now at Word on the Street

If you’re in downtown Toronto this weekend, The Word of the Street’s 36th annual festival will be taking place at David Pecaut Square, 215 King Street West next to Roy Thomson Hall. While you’re there, be sure to drop by the Tellwell Publishing booth: you’ll see a familiar old face.

Word on the Street will run Saturday September 27, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Sunday September 28, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Complete festival programming is available at https://toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca/event-directory/annual-festival/2025-festival/

Finalist (x 2)!

Welcome back, cherished readers!

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared anything in this space. Spring sort of came and went as I busied myself with entering Day of Epiphany in a number of award competitions, trying to drum up reviews, and beginning my 3rd novel (more on that in a later post), in addition to a whole lot of non-writing endeavours and obligations.

I thought I had reason to be optimistic: The Perpetual Now did fairly well, and I was entering what I believed was a superior book for many of the same awards. And so I waited… And waited…

Then, on June 3rd, I received word from the Whistler Independent Book Awards that Day of Epiphany had been named to their Shortlist for Fiction! Now, I’ve seen shortlists before; depending on the award, they can include upwards of a dozen titles. This was a total of six! Nor were there any sub-categories, beyond Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Children’s books. Of course, by then I’d learned to be cautious, and seeing as there was already a lot going on at the time, I thought I’d wait out the six weeks until the finalists were named.

It was worth it! On July 18th, I learned that my novel was named as a Finalist, along with two other titles! The winners will be announced during the Whistler Writers Festival, from October 30th to November 2nd.

Colour subject to change in November…

Amid all this, word came on June 19th that Day of Epiphany was also named as a Finalist in the Historical Fiction category for the National Indie Excellence Awards, along with seven other titles. You can find it here: https://www.indieexcellence.com/19th-annual-finalists

There are still a number of other awards to be announced, most notably the Canadian Authors Association Fred Kerner Book Awards (winners and finalists to be announced sometime this summer), the Readers’ Favourite Annual Book Award Contest (September 1st), the Readers Digest Self-Published Book Awards (October 17th), and my old friends the Best Indie Book Awards, or BIBAs (November 30th).

Next up: musings on novel #3…

IndieReader interview

On the heels of their 4.7-out-of-5 rating and review of Day of Epiphany, IndieReader has just published an interview with yours truly on their blog. This feature, which they call their “All About the Book and Author” feature, is an honour they only bestow upon their (ahem) most highly-rated books.

Their questions were interesting and really forced me to think about why I do what I do, what my process is, my influences, and so on. For those who attended the double book launch back in December, you’ll find the questions very similar.

IndieReader always leads off the segment with a pull quote from the interview which they call “Advice from IR Approved Author…”, and I have to smile a bit. It’s not that I’m unsatisfied with my answer, but I can’t help but feel that small bubble of imposter syndrome rise up from my gut. Author advice… from me! Good thing they didn’t ask me how to become wealthy writing fiction.

As a wee unexpected bonus, they included a quick plug for The Perpetual Now, including a pic and a link to Amazon. Yes, folks, it’s still out there, and still very much worth reading!

You can find the interview in its entirety right here. And watch for an announcement about the IndieReader Discovery Awards in mid-May: Day of Epiphany has been entered in the Historical Fiction category, and will soon be featured on IndieReader’s listing of 2025 Discover Award entrants.

The Reviews Are Coming In!

Looks like I’ve got a bit of a critical hit on my hands, if early reviews are any indication.

On the heels of The Prairie Book Reviews highly complimentary appraisal of Day of Epiphany in December, two more reviews have surfaced just in the past week that are putting wind in my sails.

On January 27th, @CANREADS published a five-star review that is not only deeply flattering, but more importantly indicated that the reviewer fully grasped the fundamental point behind the novel. In short, they “got it.”

Ultimately, Day of Epiphany is a masterful vehicle representing Quebec’s checkered past, unflinchingly exploring systemic abuse while delivering justice to those complicit in the harm. The suspense is palpable, making the novel nearly impossible to put down. With precision and empathy, Bourgault transcends historical fiction in Day of Epiphany, offering a haunting meditation on moral responsibility and accountability.

Chalk this up to a Canadian sensitivity? Possibly. That, at least was my first reaction. But then on January 31st, @IndieReader—based in Montclair, NJ—published their review, giving Day of Epiphany a 4.7 out of 5.0! Reviewer Craig Jones fully understood the book he was assessing, and even got into the nuts and bolts what makes the whole episode of the Duplessis Orphans at once so tragic and appalling:

Bourgault carefully and systematically damns the Catholic church and these orphanages more generally: the extreme hypocrisy of confession; the doublethink of claiming to care for the children of single women while accusing them of bringing sin on their institutions by their mere presence; the pressuring of “unwed mothers” to give up their children for adoption, a racket of the most heartbreaking kind; the simple expedient of transferring child rapists to other parishes when suspicion fell on them. The easy collusion with power in the guise of the local authorities during Maurice Duplessis’s tenure as premier of Quebec during the 1950s runs through the work like a mains wire, as does Sandra’s search for justice.

WOW!

While a few more reviews may come in during the coming weeks and months, more exciting still is award season is coming. Day of Epiphany has been entered into three so far — the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award, the Eric Hoffer Awards, and the IndieReader Discovery Awards —with several more coming before mid-year.

“A TRIUMPH”!!!

A new review of Day of Epiphany, from The Prairies Book Review

“A triumph…

Set against Québec’s Grande Noirceur—the Great Darkness, Bourgault’s 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’ authoritarian government, and medical authorities, Cassandra’s desperate attempts to protect the children lead to drastic consequences and a shocking criminal revelation.

Bourgault’s sharp, compassionate prose skillfully captures the claustrophobic dread of Sainte-Madeleine’s walls. Sandra’s transformation from obedient nun to guilt-ridden truth-teller anchors the novel’s emotional weight, while Father Normand’s arc reflects Québec’s struggle between silence and accountability. Diane’s fractured memories and her relationships with the other orphans—Eleanora, mysterious and defiant; Suzanne, fueled by rage; and Hélène, clinging to fragile hope—add emotional depth to the bleak setting.

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—an intimate reckoning with complicity and moral decay—reverberates throughout the story. Bourgault’s 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—like orphans sneaking cookies from the pantry—offer moments of levity against the novel’s 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.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a launch!

A memorable evening last night at The Epochal Imp in Toronto, which saw the launch of both The Perpetual Now and Day of Epiphany. Within the warm confines of this eclectic café on the Danforth, all decked out for the season, an enthusiastic and attentive crowd watched on as I was interviewed and provided readings from both novels, which was followed by book signings and a good deal of healthy schmooze.

The author reads as the evening’s MC and interviewer Scott White listens on.

My deepest gratitude to everyone who attended the event, who bailed me out and completed my thoughts when my brain stopped functioning out of sheer nervousness, who bought the book(s), or who simply stuck around afterward to chat and drink and mingle.

Me with the first of many… (autographs, not beers)

I’m also thrilled to say that business was surprisingly brisk: I almost ran out of copies of Day of Epiphany, and if I didn’t sell as many copies of The Perpetual Now it was because most people in the room had already read it!

Next up, the Local Authors Showcase on Saturday, January 25th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, at the Bathurst Clark Resource Library in Thornhill. If you’re in the area, be sure to drop by. Beyond that, I hope to take the show further afield with a signing (or two?) in the Ottawa area this winter.

A double launch!

SAVE THE DATE!

If you’re in the Toronto area on Tuesday, December 3rd, Day of Epiphany will be getting its official launch at The Epochal Imp, 123 Danforth Ave, Toronto, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. And because my first novel was a Covid baby and never got a proper coming-out party of its own, I will also be “launching” The Perpetual Now at the same time! Both books will available for purchase and (of course) autographing. Plus, there will be readings from both novels, a live interview with the author (that would be me) and an opportunity to get together over drinks and enjoy some much needed positive vibes. Spread the word, and bring a friend or two! I’d love to see you there!!