New books by Montreal authors to watch out for this fall
Fall is the perfect time to cuddle up with a good book, a cozy blanket and a pumpkin spice beverage and this year is no exception. With a bevy of new books coming out by Montreal writers, there’s never been a better time to tuck into a good read.
In A House Without Spirits, writer David Homel delivers reclusive artists, disaffected life partners, wandering ghosts and cult-affiliated nuns in a contemporary Montreal noir.
The book, which was published Sept. 21 by Esplanade Books, tells the story of what happens when a writer is hired to tell the story of a local photographer and begins to take a closer look into his own life.
The author of nine novels, a memoir and a series of books for younger readers co-written with Marie-louise Gay, Homel has also worked in documentary film, print and radio journalism. Véhicule Press is launching the book Sept. 29 at 7 p.m., at Salon B, above Memoria on St-laurent Blvd.
Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore is presenting the launch of Shaf and the Remington by Rana Bose on Sept. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m., in association with Baraka Books.
Set in the fictitious town of Sabzic, the book tells the personal stories of Ben and Shaf while exploring themes of war and interethnic harmony. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served.
Coming out Oct. 1 and published by The University of Alberta Press, We Have Never Lived On Earth by Kasia Van Schaik, follows the journey of Charlotte Ferrier, a child of divorce raised by a single mother in a small town in British Columbia after moving from South Africa.
“To steal a phrase from the great Alice Munro, these stories are ‘autobiographical in feeling,’ but not always in fact,” says Van Schaik.
“Made up of overheard conversations, memory fragments, travel-logs and conversations with strangers, the overlapping stories explore the constraints facing young women at the beginning of the 21st century, which include the feminist backlash of the 1990s and early 2000s and the growing recognition of climate disaster.”
Ann-marie Macdonald’s first new novel in eight years, Fayne, which is being released Oct. 11 by Knopf Canada, is about a young woman growing up in the 19th century on a vast and lonely estate. After finding a mysterious artifact, she begins to explore her own family’s secret history, as well as her own identity.
Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore will be presenting Macdonald in conversation with Eda Holmes at Victoria Hall, in association with The Westmount Public Library and Penguin Random House Canada, Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 each and are available for purchase at www.paragraphbooks.com or by calling (514) 845-5811.
Published posthumously by Mcclelland & Stewart, A Ballet of Lepers, by local darling Leonard Cohen, is coming out Oct. 11.
Written between 1956 and 1961, long before the world tours, Grammy awards and chart-topping albums, the pieces in this collection include a novel, fifteen stories and a playscript and offer startling insight into Cohen’s imagination and creative process, exploring themes that would permeate his later work.
Red Zone: From the Offensive Line to the Front Line of the Pandemic, by Laurent Duvernay-tardif, takes readers inside Duvernay-tardif’s life as he grappled with his roles as a medical professional and an NFL football player during the pandemic.
Slated for release Oct. 18 by Collins, the book also reveals his personal story growing up in his family’s bakery in Montreal, as well as the work ethic that led to his professional sports career and medical profession.
Also on Oct. 18, Drawn and Quarterly is releasing a collection of Geneviève Castrée’s work, entitled Geneviève Castrée: Complete Works 1981-2016. A foundational figure in the 1990s underground Quebec comics scene, Castrée was a highly influential comic artist and musician.
A few days later, on Oct. 23, from 2 to 4 p.m., Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore is hosting a book launch in association with Second Story Press, for Whale Fall by Ann Lambert. The third book in the Russell and Leduc mystery series, the book is a tale of love, vengeance and climate justice.
Finally, the 45th edition of the Salon du Livre de Montréal is being held at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, from Nov. 23 to 27, 2022.
Authors, publishers and readers will have the opportunity to get together for this annual book fair. There will be book signing sessions, round table discussions and other events for readers to meet their favourite authors.