Katherena Vermette is a Métis writer of poetry, fiction, and children’s literature, and is a winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry for her first book, North End Love Songs. Today, we’ve got something special available for you to download: a preview of her new novel, The Break.

About The Break by Katherena Vermette

When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime.

In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim — police, family, and friends — 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.

A powerful intergenerational family saga, The Break showcases Vermette’s abundant writing talent and positions her as an exciting new voice in Canadian literature.

The Break is forthcoming from House of Anansi on September 17th, 2016.

Download a Free Preview of The Break by Katherena Vermette (ePub)

Download a Free Preview of The Break by Katherena Vermette (MOBI)