Nine years later The fire of my father (2014), autobiographical story where he tackled the criminal past of his father, Michael Delisle returns with a brief novel in which he continues his reflection on fatherhood. Told from the point of view of the youngest son, a teacher of literature, Cabal (Boréal, in bookstores) recounts the reunion between a crook and his sons. “I thought that if he recognized me, I would cross my arms conspicuously. To signify my refusal. And if he wanted to touch me, I would stretch out my arm to block his momentum. »
In Twin, twin (The people, April 4), Marisol Drouin (Lola and the girls for sale, 2020) explores a twin relationship in a fragmented narrative marrying the sister’s fragmented thought. “I was seized with a great fright. My brother knew nothing of what was going on in my silence. He didn’t know that I was busy trapping him with me in a book. He didn’t know anything about the book. »
second novel by Christina Gosselin (life larvae2021), Looklast behind the scenes spread (Hammock, March 7) paints the portrait of a couple of actors whose executioner member says they perform violent acts in the name of art. “You provide me with the scenario to memorize and give me the necessary guidelines to please. I could land roles on any stage, but I’m determined to play in your life, away from the spotlight. I wear a mask to embody the role of the fulfilled blonde. »
gender side
Fascinated by America, Daniel Grenier (The starry onesMerchant of leaves, 2020) offers an adventure novel, Heroines and tombs (Heliotrope, March 22), where he follows a journalist interested in the fate of a writer who was allegedly shot in Mexico in 1915 and of a young woman she abandoned in a northern forest. “He said: pay me, offer me an amount, offer me a price and I will open this drawer. And what would she find there? Could he tell her a bit more? Yes: basically, it was about cannibalism…”
figurehead of science fiction, Elisabeth Vonarburg is about to launch a colossal collection of short stories, The woman with the soles of time (Alire, April 6). “Why science fiction? Because I can do everything else there: psychology and action, philosophy and mystery, horror and politics, science… And as a woman, it’s absolutely essential for me to write, read and think SF. »
New shoots
Born in Martinique, the Montrealer Melody Joseph signs the first novel ofafrofantasy Quebec, The sower of winds T.1. Heaven’s breath (VLB editor, “Imaginary”, February 13). Set in a ruined world, the novel depicts a man who brings home a young girl with a special gift. “Neige blinked and all tension melted away. All that remained was the pathetic spectacle of a malnourished and lost child. Without even realizing it, he sheathed his dagger. »
First novel by Maude VezinaDoctor of Population Health, Yu Kam (Quebec Amérique, January 24) takes us to Laos, where a Quebec journalist doing research on postpartum depression meets a bank employee who introduces him to two new mothers practicing the Yu Kam ritual. “A smell of bay leaves and roots fills the room. The coal fire placed under his bed is suffocating. Her skin heats up and seems to swell with the heat, her hair is wet. She has always seen the women in her family practice this ritual. The bed of fire. »
“Eight years in Dawson, and I couldn’t have imagined myself anywhere else. Eight years of telling myself that I had won against life, against death and suicide, since I was already in paradise. And one day, the village no longer wanted me. He grabbed me, crushed me, and spat me out. I was almost dead, and so easy to kill. But no one killed me. Even I failed,” writes the narrator of The version that nobody cares about (Le Quartanier, April 25), a story of an injustice where laughter is a weapon of massive subversion.Emmanuelle Pierrotwho lived in Dawson City, Yukon, Le Quartanier will draw identically to the first of A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers(2021), by Alain Farah. To be continued…