21 Days in October

This work of historical fiction deals with the occupation of Quebec by the Canadian Army and the massive imprisonment of French-speaking Canadian artists and trade unionists, based on the pretext of two political kidnappings.

In October 1970, 21 days was the legal limit, under the War Measures Act, during which the Canadian government could hold prisoners incommunicado without charging them or justifying their arrest. Gaetan is 16. He has quit school, works in a factory in Montreal's Saint-...