On November 1st, in the midst of a global pandemic, a 24-year-old blogger from the West Island published her first book and it became a bestseller on Amazon the day of the release. It was #1 in the “Movers and Shakers”, #17 in its category and #37 amongst all books on Amazon Canada. It even ranked higher than Michelle Obama’s “Becoming”.
Alexia Hammal has been writing on her bilingual blog “la Montréalaise” since 2015 where she shared her thoughts, emotions and realizations on multiple different topics. She’s travelled to over 20 countries and lived abroad, giving her a bigger view of the world. Her childhood dream was to write and publish a book, and it’s what she did during her confinement.
Her book “L’entre-deux: le journal intime d’une Montréalaise” is fully bilingual, just like her hometown. It’s a revised compilation of all the texts she’s shared on her blog, with a more personal touch. In this book, she takes you on her blogging journey, from what inspired her to start it to everything that was happening behind the scenes. For each word she’s written, she tells you why she has and what they meant to her.
Alexia’s book is not meant to be an autobiography, rather its purpose is to make you reflect on your own life through hers in hopes that it makes you love life just as much as she does. This book is her way of showing the world that vulnerability is strength and that the world needs that, now more than ever.
She decided to self-publish it on Amazon because of its unique touch: being fully bilingual. Sentences start in one language and end in the other. It’s a product of a born and raised Montrealer who has a love for the diversity that embodies her city.
She did not only make a dream come true, but she did it with great success thanks to the support of her community. In her words: “my success is everyone’s who dares to believe in it”.
To purchase her book and support a local writer:
