In the Key of Do

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Carole Fréchette’s slim novel, set in Montreal, is a wonderfully
constructed exploration of female friendship. Told in the first person
from the perspective of Véronique (aka Véro), now 16Ѕ years old, the
book, which contains aspects of a mystery, employs chapters that
alternate in time. The odd chapters occur in the present, and the even
chapters begin when Véro was 14Ѕ and move chronologically forward
until the past almost meets the present.

The contemporary Véro, with the help of a male friend, JFK, is
searching for Dolorиs Desnoyers (aka Do), who disappeared from
Véro’s life as suddenly as she had first appeared in Véro’s
school. Then, Do’s dress, “part gypsy, part hippie, part country
singer,” immediately set her apart. (Véro initially describes Do as
“a country-and-western princess who dressed like a flea market queen
and had Scarlett O’Hara’s nerve and Rhett Butler’s arrogance.”)

Paired by a school assignment, the introverted Véro and the
self-confident Do spend increasing amounts of time at Do’s apartment,
where Do lives with her get-rich-quick father, whose latest moneymaking
scheme is buying and selling old celebrity clothing. As an odd
friendship develops between the two, Véro becomes a somewhat greater
risk-taker. Ultimately, Do decides, with Véro’s reluctant agreement,
that they should secretly go and find Véro’s father, who deserted the
family when Véro was six. However, when Véro arrives to begin their
journey, Do and her father are gone, their apartment vacant. The
book’s bittersweet conclusion sees Véro successful in her quest to
locate Do. Highly recommended.