The Village’s Political Feud

This flow follows the D’Anjou–Bolduc rivalry from local dominance and election violence to the long-term damage left in family and community life.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Red and Blue Families

Red and Blue Families A local power struggle The D’Anjous and Bolducs represent competing political and social forces in Touladi. The Bolducs gain influence as the D’Anjou founder’s authority recedes. Politics enters kinship Family marriages and custody disputes make the rivalry personal. Loïc grows up hearing political labels used as insults, learning early that belonging can be treated as an allegiance to one side.

The Custody Quarrel

The Custody Quarrel A child becomes contested ground Alcide Bolduc resents leaving Loïc with Guillaume and increasingly asserts his biological rights. Guillaume believes that his duty as adoptive father outweighs Alcide’s intermittent claims. Rivalry becomes traumatic Their confrontation before the village turns Loïc into the living proof of both families’ competing claims. The argument makes affection inseparable from political hostility and public shame.

Campaign Pressure

Campaign Pressure A local contest hardens During the provincial campaign, Clovis Lacroix organizes Liberal supporters against the Bolduc network backing Union nationale. Threats to his teaching position show how political power reaches into ordinary employment. The village divides The Grébiche predicts disaster, and residents become alert to the possibility of violence. Loïc, still a child, is drawn into campaign activity and later feels guilty for helping the political side opposed by his adoptive family.

The Garage Brawl

The Garage Brawl A blockade turns violent Clovis and other young Liberals occupy Roland Bolduc’s garage to prevent the distribution of alcohol to voters. Roland’s men break in, and a physical fight erupts. Political cost follows Clovis knocks Roland unconscious in the struggle and is arrested the next day. Though Roland survives, the incident damages Clovis’s career and deepens mistrust between the factions.

A Feud Outlives Its Place

A Feud Outlives Its Place The D’Anjou presence recedes Guillaume and Laurette die, and the Founder’s House is eventually destroyed. Romuald Bolduc’s growing control over property leaves the D’Anjou branch with little physical presence in Touladi. Inheritance becomes memory Loïc sees the family feud survive as a structure of remembered injury after the village’s old homes and landmarks disappear. The conflict passes from direct confrontation into the stories told about who once ruled the place.

Touladi in the 1940s

October 1951

Summer 1952

Election day, 1952

1964 to the early 1980s