Talonbooks Fiction Backlist 43
The Keeper’s Daughter
A Matter of Gravity
Rose and the Archipelago of Shifting Memories Jean-François Caron
Hélène Vachon
Translated by W. Donald Wilson Young Dorothea is appointed by the tourist bureau to direct a documentary film re-enacting life at a lighthouse off Quebec’s North Shore in the 1940s and ‘50s. The problem is that most of the memories of Rose Brouillard, the interview subject, are invented, not real. But, really, who cares whether it’s true? What matters here are the stories we tell.
This charming intrigue starts with an enigmatic manuscript that brings together two disparate characters. The first is an embalmer who, unable to look after the living, devotes himself to the dead. The other is an ailing concert pianist consorting with the ghosts of his past. Their tragic encounter is brilliantly illuminated by black humour and compassion.
“Jean-François Caron has given us one of the most accomplished novels of the season.” —La Presse
“A beautiful, surprising novel that speaks with tenderness and dark humour.” —La Semaine
ISBN 978-0-88922-920-4; E-ISBN 978-0-88922-921-1 © 2015; 160 pp; $14.95 CAN / $14.95 US
ISBN 978-0-88922-840-5; E-ISBN 978-0-88922-841-2 © 2014; 256 pp; $16.95 CAN / $16.95 US
Latakia Audrey Thomas A brilliant and intense journey through a relationship, and through language and myth, spanning three continents. “An evocative fictional voice that is one of the most powerful in Canadian fiction.” —Vancouver Sun ISBN 978-0-88922-167-3 © 1979; 176 pp; 3rd printing; $18.95 CAN / $14.95 US
Translated by Phyllis Aronoff & Howard Scott
Mend the Living Maylis de Kerangal Translated by Jessica Moore Taking place within exactly twenty-four hours, the novel traces the thrill of an early-morning winter surf session, the terrible accident that follows, and all the urgency and compassion of the hospital workers, and shock and grief of Simon’s family as they negotiate the question of organ donation. Man Booker International Prize, Longlist, 2016 Wellcome Book Prize Winner, 2017 ISBN 978-0-88922-973-0; ebook also available © 2016; 224 pp; $19.95 CAN / $19.95 US
Like a Child of the Earth
Mile End
Jovette Marchessault
Lise Tremblay
Translated by Yvonne M. Klein
Translated by Gail Scott
The first volume of Jovette Marchessault’s turbulent autobiographical trilogy.
A chilling and masterful look at the interior landscapes of psychosis which mirror so perfectly the emptiness of the exterior surfaces they reflect.
Prix France-Québec Winner, 1976 “The most profound glimpse into a native Canadian woman’s imaginative experience.” —Books in Canada ISBN 978-0-88922-261-8 © 1988; 176 pp; $18.95 CAN / $14.95 US
Main Brides
Governor General’s French Fiction Award Winner, 1999 ISBN 978-0-88922-467-4 © 2002; 144 pp; $17.95 CAN / $13.95 US
Mimosa
Gail Scott
Bill Schermbrucker
The portrait of a woman who is facing the end of the century and creating a history of the present that lifts her out of fear.
An authentic recreation through sweeping prose of an extraordinary life set against the turbulent backdrop of colonial Africa.
“Gail Scott has an extraordinary ability to compress scenic observations … into short, jewel-like notations.” —Hugh Hood
BC Book Prize Winner, 1988
“Scott is one of the most gutsy writers around.” —Globe and Mail
“Intelligent, humane … universal and accessible.” —Quill & Quire
ISBN 978-0-88910-456-3 © 1993; 240 pp; $19.95 CAN / $15.95 US
Maleficium
“It’s an impressive debut … deceptively subtle and finely crafted.” —Globe and Mail
ISBN 978-0-88922-254-0 © 1988; 320 pp; $24.95 CAN / $19.95 US
Minor Episodes / Major Ruckus
Martine Desjardins
Garry Thomas Morse
Translated by Fred A. Reed & David Homel
In tribute to surrealist narrative and film technique, Minor Episodes documents the serial adventures of Minor, ubiquitous “everymogul,” who embodies the economic 1 percent. Major Ruckus, a contrapuntal text parodying the speculative fiction genre, follows a frenzied struggle for time travel. Minor Episodes / Major Ruckus introduces The Chaos! Quincunx novel series.
In 19th-century Montreal, seven penitents afflicted with curious maladies confess their encounters with an enigmatic young woman in the Near East. Each man succumbs to a secret vice and suffers her punishments. “Lust, greed, retribution, and shame – Maleficium reads like a flesh-bound catalogue of my favourite sins.” —Jenn Farrell ISBN 978-0-88922-680-7; E-ISBN 978-0-88922-704-0 © 2012; 160 pp; 2nd printing; $14.95 CAN / $14.95 US
ISBN 978-0-88922-697-5; E-ISBN 978-0-88922-722-4 © 2012; 288 pp; $16.95 CAN / $16.95 US