We all have our favorite place in the house. People let us discover their favorite piece.
Posted at 12:00 p.m
André Laroche Special Collaboration
Reading has always been a part of Chantal Roy’s life. For a long time she kept her precious books in large wooden boxes and carried them around with her until one day she was finally able to create the library of her dreams by buying a house.
“When I moved here alone with my son, I finally had the space I was hoping for to get my books out of the boxes,” recalls the young sixty-year-old from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. “I was so happy I bought the shelves from Kijiji before I even moved. »
The simple purchase of these bookshelves actually fulfilled a wish that had been put off for a long time. Apple crates, stacked one on top of the other, have long served her as shelves, which she places wherever she can, always afraid that a cellar’s dampness will damage books. Some of them are even his family heirloom.
When she separated from her second spouse – her first husband died very young – Mrs Roy searched for a house where she could finally create the long-awaited place of reflection.
It is an immense source of well-being for me. We don’t think about our problems while reading.
Chantal Roy
“But sometimes I just go and sit there without even reading a single page. It’s a place of calm for me,” adds the retired civil servant.
PHOTO HUGO-SEBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The library’s 10 beautifully lit sections are overflowing with novels, art books and comics.
Invitation to travel
The piece created by Chantal Roy indeed invites reflection and an inner journey. The 10 sections of the beautifully lit library are overflowing with novels, art books and comics. Classics like Robinson Crusoe or The Vicomte de Bragelonne meet the thrillers by John Grisham and Michael Connelly or the complete bibliography by JK Rowling. The entire Marsupilami collection is conveniently placed on the bottom row for younger readers.
Exotic objects, beautifully displayed here and there, invite you to escape to imaginary lands, as do the scale models of cars from the Tintin albums, which are arranged in a glass case.
No wonder, when you learn that the library appeals to visitors of all ages, particularly Mrs. Roy’s granddaughters, who rush there to get their hands on their favorite books and compete for the exclusivity of the oversized armchair, which sits entirely in the near stands window.
PHOTO HUGO-SEBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Chantal Roy
Friends are surprised to see a room like this in a house. But most congratulate me on it.
Chantal Roy
Because nowadays it is very rare to see such a room for books in a house. But in the spirit of Chantal Roy, this piece reflects the importance that reading has always had in her life. She still carries a book or two to bed before she falls asleep, just like she did when she was a child.
“When I was little, we didn’t go indoors to play with our friends,” recalls the woman from the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul neighborhood in Laval. “For example, if our friend was waiting because it was dinner time, we would wait outside. To pass the time, I always sat somewhere reading. »
what was she reading Small novels of his age, but also whole volumes of the collection “I know everything”, an illustrated French encyclopedia for the family. “I was 10 at the time. These books made me discover the pleasure of learning about any subject, whether it was the sinking of the Titanic or the corsets worn by women at the time. »
Her adolescence, marked by her father’s illness, was rocked by dark Victorian novels (Poe, Baudelaire, Brontë…) before falling in love with scientific suspense à la Arthur Conan Doyle. It is no coincidence that the entire body of Dan Brown’s work has now found an enviable place on Madame Roy’s shelves.
Rescued from the dump
His library is not a mausoleum. It always develops alive according to the finds of its owner in bookstores, family counters and book fairs. You can buy a bag full of books for $10 from the Saturday Reading Organization near her home, she points out.
“I’ve already bought a beautifully illustrated 3 hardcover edition of The Lord of the Rings for a dollar! Who could throw that in the garbage can? » protests this mother, who managed to pass on her love of literature to her two children.
Books always take up a lot of space at Chantal Roy. Far from being confined to the library, novels of all kinds and “easily swappable” comics spill over into the basement and other storage areas. “I promise myself that if we move one day, the next library will be bigger. I could put two chairs in there. No more competition for places! ‘ she confesses.