According to news reports, NELLY ARCAN's body was found by her live-in boyfriend in her home on St. Dominick St., in Montréal, QC Friday, September 24, 2009. The first police report that I heard over the radio noted that she was 37 years old & that she had committed suicide. Subsequent newspaper articles have given her age as 35 & her funeral home obituary notes that she was 36 years old but her birth year was not indicated. One article lists her DOB as 1973-03-05 but I have no proof of this.
Nelly's birth name was Isabelle FORTIER, the daughter of Germain FORTIER & Jacinthe MERCIER, who were married in Notre-Dame-de-Fatima parish, in Lac-Mégantic, Frontenac County, QC. Her obituary notes that they had 2 children: Isabelle & her brother, Érik.
Apparently, Isabelle left her hometown of Lac-Mégantic in her early twenties to settle in Montréal, where she became a Call Girl. The people, who knew her, claim that she was mentally unstable & suicidal, having attempted to kill herself on several occasions. As a result of these attempts, she was hospitalized now & then.
Isabelle wrote her first book, PUTAIN, under the pen name of NELLY ARCAN. Although a novel, PUTAIN (published 2002) was based upon her experience as a prostitute. It immediately became a bestseller and Nelly's name made the headlines. She was interviewed on radio & television, which brought her more popularity. Some say that the topic of SEX appealed to her readers. Successive novels by Nelly ARCAN were published: Folie (2004), L'enfant dans le miroir (2007), À ciel ouvert (2007) & her most recent novel, Paradis, clés en main (which was scheduled to be published in November 2009). The publisher intends to bring out the book at that date despite Nelly's suicide.
At the time of her death, Nelly was a chronicler on a Montréal television variety show, ICI, on channel VOX. Her co-workers were dismayed by the news of her death, but some commented not being surprised. Youth and good looks were important to Nelly and she was pushing 40 years of age, which seemed to be a problem for her. She had always been a beautiful blond woman and still was, and her physical beauty preoccupied her.
All of NELLY ARCAN's novels seem to be based upon her life experiences, both physical & emotional. I have not yet read any of her books, but I will do so shortly.
FORTIER
(1)
Noël FORTIER
Marthe GOLLE
1638-05-26
St-Rémi, Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), FRANCE
(2)
Antoine FORTIER
Marie-Madeleine CADIEU/CADIEUX
1677-11-21
Beauport, suburb of Québec City, QC
(3)
Jean-Baptiste FORTIER
Marie-Madeleine RUEL
1708-10-15
St-Laurent parish, Île-d'Orléans, Montmorency County, QC
(4)
Basile FORTIER
Madeleine DELAGE
1751-10-11
St-Jean parish, Île-d'Orléans, Montmorency County, QC
(5)
Joseph FORTIER
Marie-Pélagie CLOUTIER
1785-02-07
Saint-Henri, Lévis County, QC
(6)
Michel FORTIER
Cécile ROI/ROY
1820-07-25
Saint-Henri, Lévis County, QC
(7)
Thomas FORTIER
Philomène BERNIER
1861-02-04
St-Vital parish, Lambton, Frontenac County, QC
(8)
Arthur FORTIER
Albertine BERNIER
1901-07-22
St-Vital parish, Lambton, Frontenac County, QC
(9)
Élie FORTIER
Amanda GRENIER
1938-09-22
St-Zénon parish, Piopolis, Frontenac County, QC
An interesting post for Canada's Women's History Month.
ReplyDeleteLori, thanks for your message on my BLOG. From there I cam to your site & discovered that we`re connected via the LEMIRE lineage. My mother was a BOURGEOIS, most of whom came from Sainte-Monique-de-Nicolet, QC so that`s how we`re connected. Thanks for sharing all your work & the pictures. Both are greatly appreciated.
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