15 books to devour in winter 2023

Intriguing collections

The former news reporter Serge Labrosse brings together in mess of life short stories with various themes — betrayal, love… dogs! — and in a very direct tone. (Lévesque editor, January)

In The silence of embers, his first collection, Alec Serra-Wagneur is inspired by the idea of ​​hitting the road. The author, a great walker, was a finalist for the Prix de la Nouvelle Radio-Canada. (The house on fire, February)

Finally, with The red dragonflyChih-Ying Lay offers 10 short stories written from the point of view of a young gay scientist, which allows him to show, in the background, the social tensions in Taiwan. (Hashtag, March)

Electrifying first times

The moving story View Montauk, by Sophie Dora Swan, tells the story of a woman who takes care of her mother in the last moments of her life. (The People, January)

Whether love novel is not Amélie Dumoulin’s first book (Fe M Fe, among others), this is his first foray into adult fiction. The author takes the path of the diary to depict her daily life to a deceased friend whose three orphan children she adopted. Closer to the story that gives a smile than to the drama, this book will be welcome in the heart of the winter greyness! (Quebec America, January)

Sure values ​​for all tastes

When the holidays return, Daniel Pennac will launch the expected Malaussene Terminus, eighth and final novel in the Malaussene series. (Gallimard, January)

On the American side, the author Colson Whitehead (who has already won two Pulitzer Prizes for his previous novels) offers a dive into the Harlem of the 60s with Harlem shuffle. (Albin Michel, January)

The author of spy novels John le Carré passed away more than two years ago, and now we can finally read The spy who loved books, a small brochure whose action takes place in particular in a bookstore in Suffolk. (Threshold, January)

For his third novel, Hotline, the Lebanese author Dimitri Nasrallah was able to count on the writer Daniel Grenier for the effective translation of the story of a mother who leaves Beirut with her only son to settle in Montreal. The novel in its original version is already on the preliminary list for the Giller Prize. (The People, February)

The French version of the novel The Strangersby Métis author Katherena Vermette, continues the story that began with Broken line (winner of the 2018 Fight of the Books), where a young woman suffers a violent assault that causes a stir throughout the community. The title of the translation is not fixed, but we know that it is the Quebec author Mélissa Verreault, winner of a Literary Award from the Governor General in 2022 (in translation), who translated the work. (Quebec America, March)

The author of detective novels Jacques Côté has this time drawn on the world of criminal bikers and the mafia to lay American Requiem, where two brothers, one who dabbles in organized crime and the other who tracks down criminals, will have to face each other in an unprecedented war. (Flammarion Quebec, February)

Free electrons for curious readers

our part of the night, by the Argentinian author Mariana Enriquez, is more than 800 pages, but still delighted the jury of the Booksellers’ Prize last year. A Gothic-inspired family fresco to discover in pocket format. (Viola, January)

There are also high expectations for the French version of a comic whose original was a finalist, in the Novels and Short Stories category, for the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Awards. fictional father, by Joe Ollmann, tells the story of a failed painter whose father, a cartoonist, rose to fame. (The Watermelon, January)

The second opus of Valérie Jessica Laporte, Asymmetric, revives the touching protagonist of Unrecognizable, story of a runaway from the point of view of this young autistic child. The same young girl, now a preteen, overcomes many challenges on a daily basis. (Free Expression, March)

The novel The Trickster’s Sontranslation of the first volume of a fantasy trilogy by the Aboriginal novelist Eden Robinson, recounts the difficult journey of a young man, from a dysfunctional family, who begins to have visions where a crow appears… which speaks. If you’re curious, the TV series inspired by the work is available on Extra de Tou.tv. (vlb, march)