5 books to read if you loved Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, translated by Rhonda Mullins
Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette and translated by Rhonda Mullins is a novel that fictionalizes the remarkable life of French Canadian artist Suzanne Meloche — who was also the author's grandmother. Meloche abandoned her young children and became a ghost to her family in order to escape the rigid roles of womanhood prescribed by the Catholic Church.
Finished reading Suzanne? Here are five Canadian books to check out.
This Woman's Work by Julie Delporte, translated by Aleshia Jansen & Helge Dascher
What it's about: This Woman's Work offers a string of memories that explores Julie Delporte's experience of womanhood and the types of work expected of women. Throughout the book, the Montreal artist challenges gender assumptions and looks at how rape culture and sexual abuse has shaped her life and the world of women around her.
Why you should read it: Like Suzanne, Delporte's graphic novel is a beautifully rendered, intensely personal and contemplative inquiry into femininity and feminism.
Madame Victoria by Catherine Leroux, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
What it's about: This short story collection was inspired by a real life mystery that made headlines throughout the country in 2001. The skeleton of a woman was discovered in the woods surrounding Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, but forensic testing was unable to identify the woman. She was named "Madame Victoria" and her remains were left in an evidence room. Catherine Leroux breathes life into the ghost Madame Victoria, imagining the various ways her life may have unfolded and ended.
Why you should read it: Catherine Leroux and Lazer Lederhendler bring an elusive sense of intimacy and tension to the stories in Madame Victoria.
Projection by Priscila Uppal
What it's about: In the memoir Projection, poet Priscila Uppal travels to Brazil to find the mother that abandoned her as a young girl. The book offers a raw and honest account of their reunion, one that made Uppal come to terms with how she really felt about her mother.
Why you should read it: This powerful story packs an emotional punch and will have readers alternately crying and laughing out loud. The book was shortlisted for both the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction and Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
Songs for the Cold of Heart by Eric Dupont, translated by Peter McCambridge
What it's about: Billed as a "big fat whopper of a tall tale," Montreal writer Eric Dupont's fourth novel traverses time and space with comedic ease. From Rivière-du-Loup in 1919 to Nagasaki, 1990s Berlin, Rome and beyond, Dupont's winding tale is carried by a cast of idiosyncratic characters as they contend with the worldly events of the last century.
Why you should read it: Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, this 604-page tome is a light-hearted and deeply thoughtful romp through Quebec cultural history.
Heartbreaker by Claudia Dey
What it's about: Told in three parts by three compelling narrators, Heartbreaker parses the life of a mysterious, enigmatic young woman as the people that love her most struggle to understand her disappearance. Billie Jean Fontaine is not like the others in her closed off cult community, where the blood of young people is exported from the compound for cash and boys earn nicknames like Supernatural and The Heavy to be used over their given names.
Why you should read it: Suspenseful, poignant and funny, Heartbreaker is a thoroughly entertaining and thoughtful book.
The Canada Reads 2019 contenders:
- Chuck Comeau, defending Homes by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and Winnie Yeung
- Lisa Ray, defending Brother by David Chariandy
- Ziya Tong, defending By Chance Alone by Max Eisen
- Yanic Truesdale, defending Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, translated by Rhonda Mullins
- Joe Zee, defending The Woo-Woo by Lindsay Wong