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The Break

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The Break

By: Katherena Vermette
Narrated by: Michaela Washburn
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About this listen

2017 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Literature Finalist

Winner, Amazon.ca First Novel Award

Winner, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction

Winner, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award

Winner, McNally Robinson Book of the Year

2016 Governor General's Literary Award Finalist

2016 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize Finalist

A stunning and multiple prize-winning first novel by a First Nations Canadian writer who is being acclaimed around the world.

Stella, a young Metis mother, lives with her family by the Break, an isolated strip of land on the edge of their small Canadian town. Glancing out of her window one winter's evening, Stella spots someone in trouble; horrified, she calls the police. But when they arrive, no one is there, scuff marks in the compacted snow the only sign anything may have happened.

What follows is a heartbreaking and powerful tale of a community in crisis as the people connected to the victim, a young girl on the edge of a precipice, begin to lay bare their stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou is a social worker grappling with the end of a relationship. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre with no one to turn to. Officer Scott is a Metis policeman caught between two worlds.

A powerful family saga, Katherena Vermette's urgent, acclaimed and multi-award-winning novel shines a light on the fear every woman carries within her - fear of male power and violence - and on the love and empathy shared by all women.

©2016 Katherena Vermette (P)2017 Anansi Audio
Coming of Age Crime Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Police Procedurals United States Women's Fiction

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Astonishing

The performance of this book is superb. She brings each of the marvellous characters in this tense drama alive. Don’t miss this book

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Moving and enlightening

A beautiful book about hurt and healing and the power of love. Superbly performed also.

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Deeply Moving

Beautiful work.
So much said with very little words.
The narration is lovely and captures all the voices of the characters involved.
There were moments I found so hard to listen to, the violence and hatred too raw.
But there is compassion and hope too. So I stayed present.
Humans need more stories about First Nations peoples, and if First Nations authors have the courage to write the stories, those stories should be shared, read and listened too. This act might aid the circle of forgiveness and understanding. 💜

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.