Alma author Jean-Luc Doumont lost the woman with whom he shared his life for 24 years, his wife Hélène Bouchard, who died following complications linked to hepatitis B. To pay tribute to her, he will publish a cookbook all profits from which will be donated to research into liver diseases.
“When she (Hélène Bouchard) was at the CHUM (University of Montreal Hospital Center), she told me that I had to help people in her condition, that I had to find a way to help the CHUM Foundation and make advance research into liver diseases. Knowing that his wife loved cooking, particularly pastries, the author had the idea of publishing a cookbook whose recipes, in every sense of the word, will be given to the CHUM Foundation. An idea that his publishing house, Béliveau Éditeur, welcomed.
The book will present ten of Hélène Bouchard’s favorite recipes as well as those of public figures from Quebec. According to Jean-Luc Doumont, several actors from the culinary, political, literary and cultural circles have already confirmed their participation, including journalist and television host Karine Champagne. The solicitation process will continue over the coming months. The book is scheduled to be published in August 2025.
“Yes, it’s to help research, but it’s also a little gift that I wanted to give him so that we don’t forget him,” confides the novelist.
A “romance” parenthesis for Doumont
Furthermore, last week, Jean-Luc Doumont’s first romance novel appeared, What if I came back for you. The book, written in 2013, was updated and published by Béliveau Éditeur. It traces the mysterious story of Anne Adam, “a brilliant lawyer evolving in the lively streets of Paris. Married and mother, she embodies success in all its forms. Yet, in the depths of his soul, there persists the memory of a first love that tragically disappeared during a photo safari in Kenya. A love for which she will set out in search 26 after his presumed disappearance.
Jean-Luc Doumont will publish a second romance novel, If you really love me, come back to me!in April 2025. He will then resume writing thrillers, a style for which he is better known, in 2026. As prolific as usual, the writer is also preparing a sequel to the novel For a momentan autobiographical family saga set against a backdrop of armed conflict.
