Praise for French Boy
What others have said of French Boy
A 1950s Franco-American Childhood
French Boy shines a spotlight on our complex Franco history and rich culture, and I found many points of connection throughout. You will, too.
— Susan Poulin
Playwright (Pardon My French!), Author (Finding Your Inner Moose), Blogger (Just Ask Ida)
French Boy put me in awe of Denis Ledoux’s talent, work ethic, good sense, and common humanity. These qualities add up to a touch of genius, which in summary displays Ledoux’s ability to bring drama and feeling, as well as meaning, to the reportage of ordinary life.
French Boy deepens and expands our understanding of American history. For people like myself, a grandson of old Canada, it is a gift. Thank you, Denis Ledoux.
— Ernest Hébert
Novelist, Whirlybird Island
French Boy is a story of grit, self-discovery, and it offers an understanding of one’s Franco-ness. For those who know
Franco-American history or those on a journey to find it, Denis Ledoux’s story telling will inspire.
— Ryan Fecteau
Former Speaker, Maine House of Representatives
The Develop Vivid Characters Program
- Are the characters in your memoir captivating your readers—rather than boring them?
- Are you at a loss—“Help! What can I do!”—about how to make the people in your memoir more relatable?
- Are you embarrassed by the “stick” characters you have presented? “She really was a complex person, but I don’t know how to show her that way.”
In French Boy, Denis Ledoux paints an intimate and informative portrait of his Franco-American boyhood in 1950s Maine, where he felt “separate from the present which seemed foreign—and American.” Ledoux’s abiding affinity for story enriches this tale of a thoughtful boy seeking more than his parents could provide.
— Steven Riel,
Poet, Edgemere
With vivid and painstaking detail, Denis Ledoux recreates Maine’s Franco-American community as it was when he was growing up in the 1950s. His memoir is so close to life as then lived that it evokes both pride and pain, regret and remembrance, in equal measure.
— Douglas Rooks
First Franco: Albert Beliveau in Law, Politics and Love