Rowan nearly dies in childbirth and suffers serious complications. She becomes paranoid and suspicious. Alternating between narrators, the pieces of the puzzle finally come together. Emotional, chilling, dark, and immersive. Zu Beginn fiel es mir nicht leicht alle Frauen dieser Familie mit indigenen Wurzeln auseinander zu halten. Gut, dass es einen Stammbaum im Buch gibt.

The Breaks — Julietta Singh The Breaks — Julietta Singh

While the violent characters in the novel are despicable, it is a testament to Vermette’s skill that they also appear pitiable. The Break is a condemnation of reprehensible individual behaviour, but also of a broader society incapable of dealing effectively with problems of addiction, poverty, homelessness, and despair. Vermette isn’t laying blame: she simply details the tragedy of cultural loss, prejudice, family breakdown, and violence for her readers to assess.

Katherena Vermette’s first book, North End Love Songs, a poetry collection set among Winnipeg’s Métis community, won a 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award. In her debut novel, the author finds herself in familiar and heart-wrenching territory of prejudice and violence.

Book Break | Interviews of authors, artists, and industry The Book Break | Interviews of authors, artists, and industry

He still loves her, he’s just taking a break – from their marriage, their children and, most of all, from their life together. Six months to lose himself in south-east Asia. And there is nothing Amy can say or do about it.

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I enjoyed the story. Yes, I admit that there were places where I had to suspend belief BUT this is fiction and overall I was invested. The Break is the first novel by Canadian poet, film-maker and award-winning author, Katherena Vermette. Late one cold February night, a small-town Canadian Police Department gets a 911 call. Stella McGregor, a young Metis wife and mother, is witnessing an assault on a stretch of land known as The Break, adjacent to her home. While there are still signs of a scuffle in the snow by the time two officers arrive, they are dubious about the witness’s assertion that a woman has been raped: the broken beer bottle and the pool of blood point to a gang fight. In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected with the victim tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou, a social worker, grapples with the departure of her live-in boyfriend. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister, Rain. Paulina, a single mother, struggles to trust her new partner. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre. Officer Scott, a Métis policeman, feels caught between two worlds as he patrols the city. Through their various perspectives a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg's North End is exposed. ( From House of Anansi Press) TOO MANY CHARACTERS - I'm a big fan of the multi-character perspective and I understand that writing from the POV of 10 characters is a tremendous challenge and sadly, one I feel that Vermette fell slightly short of. (Though it would be remiss of me not to mention I highly admire Vermette for the incredible amount of respect and empathy she has for all her characters.)