An intriguing dramaturgy, the literary novel Trembling River begins with a missing-persons riddle and develops into an exploration of sorrow and the ramifications of guilt on those left behind.
Description
August 1979: twelve-year-old Michael Saint-Pierre disappears in the woods near Rivière-aux-Trembles when he and his friend Marnie Duchamp encounter a sudden storm. After an extensive search, only a muddy sneaker is found.
Thirty years later, in a neighboring town, little Billie Richard, who is about to celebrate her ninth birthday, fails to return home after school. Again, it's as if she's vanished into thin air.
Just like Marnie, who is haunted by the trauma of Michael's disappearance, Billie’s father is consumed by mourning and grief. As tehy come to terms with the inconceivable disappearances that have marked their lives, neither suspects that another tragedy will soon strike close to home...
An atmospheric mystery and a sharp exploration of guilt and sorrow, Trembling River is a powerful work from internationally renowned novelist Andrée A. Michaud and translated by J. C. Sutcliffe.
Reviews
A deep and respectful study in the impact of loss, the proliferation of guilt and judgment, and the ability of people to survive to face another day.
Michaud’s novels are not typical, and her weaving of psychological and supernatural aspects takes her stories to another level. They do not overwhelm the story, but their presence is always felt, always hanging over the main characters and events, always elusive, always destructive. … A wonderful weaver of dark tales.
When the inner dialogue of characters meandering down the frightening path to madness makes up most of the pages in a novel, it often becomes difficult to separate what is real from what isn’t. This challenge is all the more heightened when translating. The writing here is masterful.
