Scan barcode
lindseyhall44's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
When we lost our heads is a story of love, obsession, desire, and class, as Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnet’s passionate relationship changes the fate of 19th century Montreal.
For fans of feminine rage novels with strong characters, I would highly highly recommend When We Lost Our Heads
For fans of feminine rage novels with strong characters, I would highly highly recommend When We Lost Our Heads
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, Abandonment, Rape, Suicide, Grief, Violence, and Self harm
Moderate: Bullying
readgramrepeat's review
dark
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Rape, Animal death, Gun violence, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury
nini23's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
I devoured this book in two days, like a decadent cake. A coincidence that I happen to be reading The Masochist by Katja Perat which references Leopold von Sacher-Masoch where the term masochism/masochist originated from. Here in When We Lost Our Heads, the main character Sadie Arnett is a reference to Marquis de Sade, also a historical figure whose writings arose the concept of sadism. Both books are set in late nineteenth century and examine women's agency, sexual perversion, madness.
When We Lost Our Heads is a spectacle, an extravaganza, ferocious, exuberant, intense. I can see it adapted into a play or musical, à la Les Misérables with Fantine and her factory workers + prostitutes staging a strike and revolution. It's set in the gilded age of 19th century Montreal with many important personas of the French Revolution transposed in the naming of characters, the spirit of the revolution overhangs the entire novel. There's Marie Antoine in a clear reference to Marie Antoinette ('let them eat cake') who is the heiress of a sugar empire, daughter of sugar baron Louis Antoine (her likeness is printed on all the bags of sugar). There's Mary Robespierre alluding to Maximilien Robespierre, Jeanne-Pauline Marat alluding to Jean-Paul Marat, George Danton to Georges Danton and so on, interestingly the gender of all these famous French revolutionaries have been flipped. The revolution brewing is that of the women's suffrage movement, worker's rights, female liberation fomenting in the lower classes who live in The Squalid Mile.
The female empowerment novel revolves around the consuming mutually fascinating relationship between Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett, who meet each other as tweens, both living on the Golden Mile. The Arnetts are social climbers whereas the Antoines lord over the city. These two freerun girls are extremely precocious and get along like a house on fire. Envy and a shocking crime cause their physical separation. The titillating tale brings us to a boarding school for troubled girls in England, a brothel in the Squalid Mile where a transgender individual performs deliveries and abortions, a bakery beside the sugar factory where the most delectable confections are made, the sugar factories themselves where harsh working conditions abound. Poisonings, burning revenge, licentious trysts, birth secrets, lunatic asylums, class warfare, hangings...oh my!
What struck me reading this novel is a lot of the themes are just as relevant in modern times. The factory workers at the sugar factory losing their fingers to workplace accidents could be the Amazon workers of our time working under strict time constraints and with one of the highest rates of work injuries in the industry. Those maids who are taken advantage of sexually by their employers are the MeToo movement with powerful famous men standing accused. The morality police and hypocritical majority male lawmakers are still present with regard to prostitution and abortion laws. The rich poor disparity gap is wider than ever. Boarding prep schools in England still exist but I'm also thinking of places like Eton where a lot of the white old boy's power exclusive club is well and alive. Class differences may not be so apparent anymore but if we look at access to healthcare, incarceration rates among certain racial groups, housing affordability, the opulent lifestyles of the 1%...
O'Neill's use of language and metaphors is scrumptious (I can't seem to escape sweets-based descriptors after reading), many passages were highlighted and savoured.
The only rather glaring omission is that although this purportedly tackles sexism and class poverty, making sweeping all-encompassing statements about women, all the characters appear to be white with some half-hearted inclusion of biracial prostitutes. Where are the First Nations people? The racial minorities? Intersectional feminism.
Interview with author in The Montreal Gazette: https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/local-arts/heather-oneill-conjures-a-parallel-world-montreal-in-when-we-lost-our-heads
When We Lost Our Heads is a spectacle, an extravaganza, ferocious, exuberant, intense. I can see it adapted into a play or musical, à la Les Misérables with Fantine and her factory workers + prostitutes staging a strike and revolution. It's set in the gilded age of 19th century Montreal with many important personas of the French Revolution transposed in the naming of characters, the spirit of the revolution overhangs the entire novel. There's Marie Antoine in a clear reference to Marie Antoinette ('let them eat cake') who is the heiress of a sugar empire, daughter of sugar baron Louis Antoine (her likeness is printed on all the bags of sugar). There's Mary Robespierre alluding to Maximilien Robespierre, Jeanne-Pauline Marat alluding to Jean-Paul Marat, George Danton to Georges Danton and so on, interestingly the gender of all these famous French revolutionaries have been flipped. The revolution brewing is that of the women's suffrage movement, worker's rights, female liberation fomenting in the lower classes who live in The Squalid Mile.
The female empowerment novel revolves around the consuming mutually fascinating relationship between Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett, who meet each other as tweens, both living on the Golden Mile. The Arnetts are social climbers whereas the Antoines lord over the city. These two freerun girls are extremely precocious and get along like a house on fire. Envy and a shocking crime cause their physical separation. The titillating tale brings us to a boarding school for troubled girls in England, a brothel in the Squalid Mile where a transgender individual performs deliveries and abortions, a bakery beside the sugar factory where the most delectable confections are made, the sugar factories themselves where harsh working conditions abound. Poisonings, burning revenge, licentious trysts, birth secrets, lunatic asylums, class warfare, hangings...oh my!
What struck me reading this novel is a lot of the themes are just as relevant in modern times. The factory workers at the sugar factory losing their fingers to workplace accidents could be the Amazon workers of our time working under strict time constraints and with one of the highest rates of work injuries in the industry. Those maids who are taken advantage of sexually by their employers are the MeToo movement with powerful famous men standing accused. The morality police and hypocritical majority male lawmakers are still present with regard to prostitution and abortion laws. The rich poor disparity gap is wider than ever. Boarding prep schools in England still exist but I'm also thinking of places like Eton where a lot of the white old boy's power exclusive club is well and alive. Class differences may not be so apparent anymore but if we look at access to healthcare, incarceration rates among certain racial groups, housing affordability, the opulent lifestyles of the 1%...
O'Neill's use of language and metaphors is scrumptious (I can't seem to escape sweets-based descriptors after reading), many passages were highlighted and savoured.
The only rather glaring omission is that although this purportedly tackles sexism and class poverty, making sweeping all-encompassing statements about women, all the characters appear to be white with some half-hearted inclusion of biracial prostitutes. Where are the First Nations people? The racial minorities? Intersectional feminism.
Interview with author in The Montreal Gazette: https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/local-arts/heather-oneill-conjures-a-parallel-world-montreal-in-when-we-lost-our-heads
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Animal death, Sexism, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Rape
oliviasbookshop's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
So glad I got to read this novel ahead of its release in February 2022! It is classic O’Neill — filled with unexpected metaphors, magic realism, and unique phrasing you won’t find in any other novel. I enjoyed the historical setting, which is unlike any of her previous works.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
More...