Frightening and mythical, the Sasquatch is the star of many books. Quebec author Jonathan Bélanger has been passionate about Sasquatch since a young age. The creature naturally finds its place in his first novel, In the Shadow of the Sasquatch.
Where did this holiday camp and Sasquatch thing come from?
At the beginning of the novel, there is a visual and thematic mention of the film Harry and the Hendersons. The main character in my book, Vivier, has a backpack from Harry and the Hendersons. I wanted to instill the passion that I had, as a child, with this film and later with the Sasquatch theme in general, in the main character. I wanted him to be fascinated by it, like I was, in my youth.
How do the paths of your characters and the Sasquatch come to cross?
Four young people who do not know each other at all find themselves at the same summer camp, for personal reasons, in relation to conflicts with their parents. All of this will culminate in a possible little runaway, which the young people wanted to do before the end of the camp, just for fun. Of course, things don’t go as planned…
Does the title of your book, In the Shadow of the Sasquatch, represent the feeling of being in the shadows that each of the characters experiences?
Exactly. I wanted us to be able to feel the role and the presence of the father in the lives of these young people, the fact that they are in the shadow of their father for different reasons. There’s one [for whom] it’s the absence of his careerist father, another whose father puts a lot of pressure on him in school, another who is dealing with more serious problems of parental violence, then the other young is overprotected by his father.
You say you’ve read all about Sasquatch! Why this great fascination for this creature?
In the myth of the Sasquatch, there is no supernatural story, strictly speaking… It is certain that with the Sasquatch, we can go into really advanced esotericism. Some say that the reason we don’t see him is that he travels between dimensions! I wanted to stay in realistic science fiction. Personally, I don’t know if it exists. I do not believe that all the documents listed are true. However, a primate whose evolution would have stagnated and who would be in forests almost unexplored by man, it is not impossible. At that point, I’m interested, because it’s going to look for a story that, technically, could happen to practically anyone.
If you could meet a Sasquatch, what would you say to it?
Thank you for having populated my childhood with all these dreams and fantasies! I would also like to tell him that in his evolution, he took a “turn” perhaps a little simpler and more pleasant than the human… To continue to live in nature and to appreciate life as it has been created.
