And the Birds Rained Down

by Jocelyne Saucier, translated by Rhonda Mullins

tagged: psychological, contemporary women, literary

Description

A CBC Canada Reads 2015 Selection

Finalist for the 2013 Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English Translation

Deep in a Northern Ontario forest live Tom and Charlie, two octogenarians determined to live out the rest of their lives on their own terms: free of all ties and responsibilities, their only connection to civilization two pot farmers who bring them whatever they can't eke out for themselves. But their solitude is disrupted by the arrival of two women. The first is a photographer searching for survivors of a series of catastrophic fires nearly a century earlier; the second is an elderly escapee from a psychiatric institution. The little hideaway in the woods will never be the same. Originally published in French, And the Birds Rained Down, the recipient of several prestigious prizes, including the Prix de Cinq Continents de la Francophonie, is a haunting meditation on aging and self-determination.

About the Authors

Jocelyne Saucier was born in New Brunswick and lives in Abitibi, Québec. Two of her previous novels, La vie comme une image (House of Sighs) and Jeanne sur les routes (Jeanne’s Road) were finalists for the Governor General’s Award. Il pleuvait des oiseaux (And the Birds Rained Down) garnered her the Prix des Cinq continents de la Francophonie, making her the first Canadian to win the award. The book was a CBC Canada Reads Selection in 2015.

Rhonda Mullins is a Montreal-based translator who has translated many books from French into English, including Jocelyne Saucier’s And Miles To Go Before I Sleep, Grégoire Courtois’ The Laws of the Skies, Dominique Fortier’s Paper Houses, and Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Suzanne. She is a seven-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation, winning the award in 2015 for her translation of Jocelyne Saucier’s Twenty-One Cardinals. Novels she has translated were contenders for CBC Canada Reads in 2015 and 2019 and one was a finalist for the 2018 Best Translated Book Award. Mullins was the inaugural literary translator in residence at Concordia University in 2018. She is a mentor to emerging translators in the Banff International Literary Translation Program.

Contributor Notes

Jocelyne Saucier is the author of several novels and the recipient of the Prix des Cinq Continents de la Francophonie and the Prix Ringuet de l'Academie des lettres du Quebec. She was born in New Brunswick and now resides in Abitibi, Quebec. Rhonda Mullins is a writer and translator living in Montreal. And the Birds Rained Down , her translation of Saucier's Il pleuvait des oiseaux , was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award, as was her translation of Elise Turcotte's Guyana.

Awards

Short-listed, CBC Canada Reads
Short-listed, Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English Translation
, Prix de Cinq Continents de la Francophonie

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And the Birds Rained Down

by Jocelyne Saucier, translated by Rhonda Mullins

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