In 1911, in a hockey game in Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, local tough guy Billy Joe Pictou fires the puck into Monti Bouge's mouth. When Monti collapses with his head across the goal line, Victor Bradley, erstwhile referee and local mailman, rules that the goal counts. Monti's ensuing revenge for this injustice sprawls over three generations, one hundred years and dozens of alcohol-soaked tall tales, from treachery in northern gold-mining camps to the appearance of a legendary beast by turns playful and ferocious.

It's up to Monti's grandson, François, to make sense of the vendetta between Monti and Bradley that has shaped the destiny of their town and everyone who lives there. In a sumptuous, unpredictable language and slapstick comedy, Christophe Bernard reveals himself as a master of epic storytelling. (From Biblioasis)

Originally hailing from Carleton-sur-Mer in the Gaspé region of Quebec, Christophe Bernard now lives in Burlington, Vermont. He has been a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for English-to-French Translation. The Hollow Beast has won multiple awards in addition to being a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction in French in 2018.

Lazer Lederhendler is a translator and academic from Montreal. He has been previously nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English translation several times. He won the prize in 2008 for his translation of Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner and again in 2016 for his translation of The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux. Lederhendler won the 2020 Governor General's Literary Award for translation for If You Hear Me.