Donald Smith
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Beyond Two Solitudes
Beyond Two Solitudes offers a fresh approach in the present constitutional and political debate based on mutual respect and a desire to live together in harmony. The French edition has been hailed as a “lively and passionate account” (Voir) and as an “explosive book, a vibrant plea for a renewed country” (Radio-Canada) Donald Smith speaks from within, as an English Canadian who has learned French, moved to Quebec and successfully integrated into Francophone society. Beyond Two Solitudes answers the anti-Quebec rhetoric of Diane Francis, Barbara Amiel, William Johnson and others. Smith interviews other English Canadians who have chosen French as their language of creation: singer and songwriter Jim Corcoran, novelist Nancy Huston, horticulturist Larry Hodgson, and American-born singer Nanette Workman, who has made her career in Quebec and France. He also interviews novelist Neil Bissoondath, now a Quebec City resident, who gives a compelling account of what French Quebec and so-called multiculturalism are really about.