In 1942, a young entomologist, Thomas, is sent on a secret mission to a remote island to work on biological weapons for the Allied military. The scientists live like prisoners while they look for the perfect carrier for anthrax among the island's many insects, trying at the same time to keep the local population in the dark. Until one of the islanders becomes ill.

Eight decades later, in 2025, in the same region of Quebec, a heat wave unleashes horrendous swarms of horseflies, while humans fall prey to strange flights of rage and violence. Theodore is living a simple life, working double shifts at the factory and drinking to forget, when a horsefly bite stirs him from his apathy and he impulsively kidnaps from the nursing home his grandfather Émeril, whose dementia has him living in the past during the Grosse Ile biological weapons experiments. The two men end up on that same remote island, digging into the past.

The horsefly, meanwhile, knows a few secrets…

Loosely based on historical fact, Horsefly is a terrifying tale about the ways in which we try to dominate nature, and how nature will, inevitably, wreak retribution upon us.

(From Coach House Books)

Horsefly is available in May 2025.

Mireille Gagné is an author based in Quebec City. She has written books of poetry, short stories and the novel Le lièvre d'Amérique.

Pablo Strauss has translated 12 works of fiction, several graphic novels and one screenplay. He was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for translation for The Country Will Bring Us No Peace, Synapses and The Longest Year. His translation of Le plongeur by Stephane Larue (The Dishwasher in English) won the 2020 Amazon First Novel Award. He lives in Quebec City.