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A Matter of Compulsion: The Story of Flory and Armand

by Juliette Pilon; Edited by Charmaine Bradley

271 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-2277; ISBN 1-4120-4469-3; US$25.87, C$29.75, EUR21.25, £14.88

A Matter of Compulsion is the true, poignant and often humorous story of a family's struggle to survive in Northern Alberta during the Depression.

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About the Book     About the Author     Excerpts     Catalogue Information

About the Book

A Matter of Compulsion is the true, poignant and often humorous story of a family's struggle to survive in Northern Alberta during the Depression. Armand, a French-Canadian dreamer and Flory, an English pragmatist, had little in common. Even so, their love endured through the birth of eight children, life in a dance hall, and Armand's growing dependence on alcohol.

Armand was known throughout Cold Lake, Alberta for his remarkable ideas and his gregarious personality. His schemes ran the gamut from opening a speakeasy in his front parlour, to building a dance hall connected to his house. In between, he found time to invent a clothespin, hair tonic, and what may have been the first snowmobile. He regaled his friends at the Beer Parlour with stories of his latest scheme while Flory was forced to develop her own schemes to support her ever-growing family.

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About the Author

Juliette Florence Pilon was born on January 20, 1915 in Legal, Alberta. This year she celebrated her 90th birthday.

She inherited her father Armand's creative nature, and as well as writing, won prizes for her oil paintings, sang, played the piano by ear, took in sewing to support herself, and concocted amazing recipes, rarely using a cookbook. All this she accomplished with only a grade-eight education.

Juliette married twice, raised two daughters, and has a granddaughter, two grandsons, and a great-grandson. She lives in Victoria.

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Excerpts

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Catalogue Information

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