Guyana

By Elise Turcotte

Nominated for the 2014 Governor General's Literary Award for Translation

All sorts of things can happen, no matter what road you take, and I never forget that. Death in particular can never be forgotten. Since Rudi’s death, I have tried to anticipate and dodge obstacles like an Olympic skier. My agile imagination glides between the little red flags with ease. Philippe’s imagination is both infnite and inflexible. It’s a dangerous combination. He stays planted on the ground while looking down over reality. Between us, we do a good job of imagining everything that could happen.

I figured I shouldn’t tell him the news: your hairdresser hanged herself in her salon.

Ana and her son, Philippe, are grieving the loss of Philippe’s father when Philippe’s hairstylist, Kimi, dies in an apparent suicide. Driven by a force she doesn’tunderstand, Ana starts digging into Kimi’s past in Guyana in 1978, which leads to nested tales of north and south, past and present, and to the Jonestown Massacre. A stunning translation of a masterpiece by one of Quebec’s most important novelists.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Coach House Books
• Release date: Apr 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781770563728

Book preview

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Reviews for Guyana

[lkernagh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I will start the review off by saying that the book description above is probably not the best to give an impression of what this story is all about but it is what the publisher's came up with... I just added in Ana's career and the age of her son. For me, this story is more of an introspective examination of how death (and violence) leaves its scars on the psyche of the living. Written with wonderful sparse prose - Turcotte is a poet/novelist - Turcotte captures the essence of her characters' emotional turbulence, slowly drawing out not only Ana's burning need to understand Kimi's death, but also frightening details of Ana's own past and her dependence on her young son to ground her. The shifts in narrative work well to flesh out just how in tune Phillipe is with his mother's emotional balance and when she is withholding information from him. While Turcotte does bring into the story information about the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of the People's Temple cult members, she is elusive with Kimi's past in Guyana and Guyana in general, painting a half finished portrait of Guyana in quick, post-colonial strokes. The threads driving Ana forward with her personal examination of Kimi's death are tenuous at best and left me with some questions and somewhat unsatisfied with how the story made it to the ending.Overall, a story that seems to be a bit at odds with its sparse, eloquent prose trying to contain the emotional turmoil that is pushing its way to the surface.

[bonnieconnelly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Outstanding story , beautifully crafted. woman whose husband dies sets out to unravel the apparent suicide of a hairdresser who cut her son's hair. As the story progresses the secrets her her life are revealed.