New ebooks From Canadian Indies

9781988298856_cover Enlarge Cover
0 of 5
0 ratings
rated!
rated!
list price: $10.99
edition:eBook
also available: Paperback
category: Fiction
published: May 2021
ISBN:9781988298856
publisher: Freehand Books

The Lover, the Lake

by Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau, translated by Susan Ouriou

tagged: native american & aboriginal, contemporary women, adult
Description

A spellbinding novel celebrating Indigenous sensuality; the first erotic novel written by an Indigenous woman in French

When it was first published in Quebec, The Lover, The Lake was heralded as the first erotic novel written by an Indigenous woman in French. Today, as it is translated into English for the first time, author Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau would rather call it a celebration of sensuality, another first. At a time when Indigenous peoples were being dispossessed of their land and history as well as their relationship to the body, the love explored by Wabougouni and Gabriel is an act of defiance. Their intimate connection plays out on the shores of Lake Abitibi in an affair as turbulent and unfathomable as the lake itself.

"The aim here is to break free of the bonds of wounds the priests' abuse has left on our bodies and souls, wounds linked to loss--of land, of intimate spaces, of identity both as an individual and community member, of sexual identity, of delight in the body, of innocence and the uncomplicated nature of lovemaking. My hope is that this novel will serve to unearth the seed of joy buried deep in our culture, still profoundly alive . . . The Lover, the Lake shows us that we are not just suffering and victims: we can also be pleasure." -- Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau, from the prologue

About the Authors

Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau

Born in Jamésie in north-west Quebec, Virginia Pesemapeo Bordeleau is a multidisciplinary eeyou artist. For the past forty-four years, she has exhibited in Quebec, Canada, Europe and Mexico. Since 2007, she has published three novels, three collections of poetry, one storybook, one artist’s book and a collection of correspondence. In 2021, she was awarded a medal by Québec’s Assemblée nationale du Québec for her life’s work and in 2023 she was appointed as Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques. In 2024, the Université de Moncton granted her an honorary Doctor of Arts. Virginia still lives in Abitibi-Témiscamingue where she continues to paint, sculpt and, of course, write with the authenticity that characterizes all of her work.


Susan Ouriou

SUSAN OURIOU is an award-winning literary translator (French and Spanish to English) and fiction writer. She has been a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Translation on seven occasions, winning for her translation of Pieces of Me by Charlotte Gingras. She also translated Catherine Leroux's The Future, winner of 2024 CBC Canada Reads. Ouriou is also the author of two novels, Damselfish, and the critically acclaimed Nathan, and the editor of two anthologies, the trilingual Beyond Words: Translating the World and the bilingual Languages of Our Land: Indigenous Poems and Stories from Quebec. She lives in Calgary.

Editorial Reviews

Poetic and hauntingly beautiful.

— Canadian Notes and Queries

Both raw and poetic… about healing and continuance… May more French Indigenous writing find its way into English.

— Globe and Mail

Buy the e-book:

X
Contacting facebook
Please wait...