Emily Breitkopf
Didier Leclair, Toronto, I Love You.
Toronto: Mawenzi House, 2022. $22.95.
Through its elegant prose, intoxicating characters, and vivid atmosphere, Toronto, I Love You by Didier Leclair delivers a charming story of new beginnings unlike any other. Originally published in French in 2000 and winner of the Prix Trillium in 2001, Toronto, je t’aime has finally—over 20 years later—been translated to English. Raymond Dossougbé flees his hometown in Benin to the city of Toronto to start his life over again. Met with a new fast-paced environment without prejudice or preconception, Raymond witnesses poverty, wealth, and racism as he envelopes himself in the new world around him. This novel truly comes to life within its pages, as it follows our main protagonist Raymond through new discoveries, reflections of his past, and relationships that feel both authentic and relatable. In this novel, Leclair–through Raymond’s eyes–delves deep into racism, poverty, and classism in a tasteful and thought-provoking way that truly made me reflect on the world around us.
The way Leclair breaks this overarching story into short—and what feels like self-contained—chapters makes what Raymond is experiencing and narrating all the more impactful. It is as though I am sitting in on a highlight reel of Raymond’s life, which is quite often what it feels likes when interacting with others. Besides yourself, you are only a blip in another person’s life, sharing select experiences and hearing only some recollections. This is what makes Raymond’s story feel so real. Weaving in and out of stories about his past and the moving present allows readers to gain a better understanding of how it feels to let go. Or in some cases hold on tight to memories, even if they are not always the most pleasant.
This idea of holding on or letting go is heavily represented by Raymond’s home country, Benin, and the things, or people, he leaves behind, like Bijou. Bijou, while only present through Raymond’s memories, is an outstanding character. Even though Bijou spends her day picking up men, waiting for the one white man who will whisk her away to a new, better life—often being paid little to nothing for her services—she still remains hopeful for a better future. It is in a letter to Bijou that I found my favourite quote of the book where Raymond writes, “You are the only crack in my sanity that I never want to fill” (88). This entire letter filled me with so many emotions as Raymond accepts Bijou as part of his life even if she may not be in his future.
As someone who is fairly familiar with the city of Toronto, Leclair does an incredible job of capturing the fine details in not just the infrastructure of the city but the people and culture that bring it to life. (“I came back down to earth at the sight of Finch Avenue, dismal and seedy. The open space there revealed a sky as bare as the head of crownless king. Studded with dreary grey high-rises, it gave me the impression of a gap-toothed jaw ready to close on me” [5].) Through Raymond’s eyes, Toronto is more than just a big city; it’s a place filled with mystery and wonder.
After being taken aback by the city around him, Raymond settles down to start his new life. It is here where the people that help shape Raymond throughout the novel are introduced. Joseph, Koffi, and Bob each come with their own unique personalities, shoulder their own struggles, and share their own views on the world around them. The part I loved most about the interactions between these men was that I never felt that one of their outlooks on life was necessarily right. They were simply just opinions shaped on their own personal, lived experience.
The sense of brotherhood within the Black community is something I can never directly speak on. Yet, through the interactions between the characters in the book it allowed me to better understand the views, struggles, and dynamics that exist within their culture. Whether it was through Bob’s music and grief, Koffi’s club and posters, or Joseph’s love life, each showed how big of a role race plays in their lives. What makes this so impactful in Toronto, I Love You is that we are seeing the impact of their lived experiences and how they shape each of their views and dynamics. Didier provides a grounded representation of this through the eyes of this group of complex older men (“I couldn’t help finding something familiar about their faces…I felt uncomfortable about it. This mixture of attraction and unease, of love and hatred, stemmed from an unconscious memory of slavery and its centuries of violence” [9]). While Bob and Joseph sought a brother in Raymond, Raymond wishes to pull away from that idea in his need for a fresh start, which makes every conversation so compelling. When Raymond speaks of his past we can see the effects extreme poverty and a class-based society has on him and those he cares about. Raymond seeks out Toronto as an escape from his life of poverty and yet, even when he moves, he finds those struggles haunt even the streets of the city he sought refuge in.
Then we meet Maria, a Portuguese woman and Joseph’s ex-girlfriend. I fell in love with her character the moment she was introduced. There was a sense of empowerment in the way she spoke and how she viewed the world around her. She was someone I could respect even if her more wild nature was something I could never relate to. (“Maybe I’m a slut in your eyes or a hypocrite. But I’m someone now. I’m not just the object of your desire. I’m Maria and I exist. Do you understand?” [73].) Maria is a woman with fast cars, a nice house, wealthy friends, and yet even her life is not perfect. While she may live a more privileged lifestyle than others, Maria shows that while money makes life easier in many ways, it doesn’t buy happiness nor erase all the struggles. It is because of this lifestyle divide that Raymond and Maria’s conversations are some of the best in the novel. Each one leaves a lasting impact, making me really think about not just how I view the world but how I view myself.
In the end, Toronto, I Love You gave me the pleasure of following Raymond along through his new beginning. Not only did it show the wonders of Toronto through his eyes but it made me reflect on the ups and downs of his journey and the relationships he built around it. Didier Leclair truly packs a punch in a short but satisfying story that will stay with me for a very long time. Toronto, I Love You is a must read for everyone and high praise to Elaine Kennedy for an incredibly smooth and fluent translation.
Emily Breitkopf
is the publishing and web intern for The Ampersand Review of Writing & Publishing and a 4th-year student in the Creative Writing & Publishing program at Sheridan College. She lives and writes in Scotland, Ontario.