Born in 1941 in Noranda, Yves Beauchemin is a giant figure in modern Quebec. His second novel,
The Alley Cat, went on to become what The Canadian Encyclopedia calls “the all-time bestselling novel in Quebec literature.”
The Years of Fire is the second in a quartet of stories about the title character of the first in the series,
Charles the Bold, which appeared in English in 2006. The reading begins with Beauchemin discussing the character Celine.