The Break by Katherena Vermette

The Break by Katherena Vermette

Winner of the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award, The Breakis a stunning and heartbreaking debut novel about a multigenerational Métis-Anishnaabe family dealing with the fallout of a shocking crime in Winnipeg's North End.

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 Breakshowcases Vermette's abundant writing talent and positions her as an exciting new voice in Canadian literature.

Katherena Vermette is a Canadian poet whose collection North End Love Songs won the Governor General's Prize for English-language poetry in 2013. Is Vermette a M? Her children's picture book series The Seven Teachings Tales was published by Portage and Main Press in 2015. She was a MFA student in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Her work has also appeared in the literary collection Manitowapow: Native Writings from the Land of Water, in addition to her own works. She is a member of Manitoba's Native Writers Collective, and in 2011 she edited the book xxx ndn: love and desire in ndn land. Her book's title alludes to Winnipeg's North End.