In Never, Again, set during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, a child protagonist not yet fettered by the burdens of history lends the novel its greatest strength: a subtle balance between everyday ubiquity and unimaginable horror.
By Danielle Barkley
Reviews
Daniel Grenier’s ambitious debut novel spans thousands of kilometres across North America and hundreds of years of history as it reflects on the nature of memory, love, and mortality.
By Jeff Miller
Reviews of two novellas that explore lives in poetry: The End, by Anna, by Adam Zachary, and Baloney by Maxime Raymond Bock, tr. Pablo Strauss.
By Aimee Wall
Behold Things Beautiful is a richly textured novel that reflects extensive knowledge of the performing and visual arts. Siré’s creation of ambiance is impressive.
By H. Nigel Thomas
Speaking Memory: How Translation Shapes City Life, edited by Concordia University professor Sherry Simon, collects scholarly perspectives on the multilingual city, ranging from historical and political to activist and creative points of view.
By Klara du Plessis
What does it mean when images of femininity are staged as near clones or repeating figures? That’s the question novelist and UQAM professor Martine Delvaux tackles in Serial Girls: From Barbie to Pussy Riot, recently translated into English by Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood.
By Emily Raine
Songs Upon the Rivers engages readers in an important and timely conversation about the legacies of French colonialism in North America, but its unorthodox methods and questionable historical approach should leave readers with more questions than answers.
By Émilie Pigeon
Reviews of poetry collections from Joséphine Bacon, Marc Plourde, Yusuf Saadi, and Alex Manley.
By Abby Paige
Reviews of The Abominable Mr. Seabrook, by Joe Ollmann, and Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me, by Lorina Mapa.
By Mark Streeter
A selection of the season's books for young readers.
By B. A. Markus
Cartoonist Vanessa Davis made a big name for herself in 2010 with Make Me A Woman, a relatable, endearing, and funny book. Spaniel Rage, which was Davis’s first attempt at comics, contains hints of her work to come.
By Meags Fitzgerald
The Montreal Review of Books invited Marc Raboy, author of Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World, to answer a few questions about Guglielmo Marconi’s enduring significance and the experience of writing his biography.
By Sara Spike