Neighbourhood Watch

(Paperback)

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Description

The lives of three families intersect in the hallways of an apartment block in a Montreal neighborhood.

Mlissa, Roxane, and Kevin have never had it easy. As their parents face their own struggles with addiction, unemployment, and abuse they must learn to fend for themselves. Though their lives converge at school, on the street, at the corner store, or when they can hear each other through their apartments thin walls, they each feel deeply alone. Neighbourhood Watch tells their coming-of-age stories with a cinematic ease, moving between despair and the unalterable hope of childhood.

With her characteristic poetic flair and generosity, Anas Barbeau-Lavalette, author of the acclaimed Suzanne, has painted, in brief strokes, an unforgettable and moving portrait of a fictional apartment block in Montreal.

This translation of her 2010 debut novel is presented with an afterword interview with a woman who, as a child, was the inspiration behind the character of Roxane.

This is prose to lose yourself in. Never complicated, its gentle like a love song, comforting and enveloping like a black-and-white film, full of tones and textures. These sentences can destroy us. Not for their simplicity, but for the powerful beauty within the simplicity. Peter McCambridge, Best Translated Book Award: Why This Book Should Win, on Suzanne

Reviews

Youll recognize in this novel scenes fromThe Ring. The idea for this book was born long before. After the film, she wanted to pursue their stories, without the heaviness of film. The narration borrows the point of view and the crude and sometimes awkward language of the characters.La Presse

"Barbeau-Lavalette brings a filmmakers eye to each scene, framing every vignette with both a startling beauty and a heartbreaking realism. That the book features a new interview with the young woman who was the model for Roxanne only adds to its intimate verisimilitude. The result is a powerful, unforgettable read." -Toronto Star

Barbeau-Lavalette takes on a naive and charming tone without a trace of miserabilism.Voir Montral

Author Bio

Anas Barbeau-Lavalette is a novelist, screenwriter, and director. Her bestselling novel La femme qui fuit -- inspired by her own grandmother's life as an artist -- was translated into English and titled Suzanne. In French, it won the Prix des libraires du Qubec and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for French-language fiction. In English, it was a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award in 2018 and Canada Reads in 2019. She currently lives in Montreal. Rhonda Mullins is a writer and translator. She received the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for Twenty-One Cardinals, her translation of Jocelyne Saucier's Les hritiers de la mine. And the Birds Rained Down, her translation of Jocelyne Sauciers Il pleuvait des oiseaux, was a CBC Canada Reads Selection. It was also shortlisted for the Governor Generals Literary Award, as were her translations of lise Turcottes Guyana and Herv Fischers The Decline of the Hollywood Empire. Suzanne, her translation of Anas Barbeau-Lavalettes La femme qui fuit, was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award, longlisted for CBC Canada Reads in 2018, and shortlisted in 2019. She currently lives in Montreal. Rhonda Mullins is a writer and translator. She received the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for Twenty-One Cardinals, her translation of Jocelyne Saucier's Les hritiers de la mine. And the Birds Rained Down, her translation of Jocelyne Sauciers Il pleuvait des oiseaux, was a CBC Canada Reads Selection. It was also shortlisted for the Governor Generals Literary Award, as were her translations of lise Turcottes Guyana and Herv Fischers The Decline of the Hollywood Empire. Suzanne, her translation of Anas Barbeau-Lavalettes La femme qui fuit, was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award, longlisted for CBC Canada Reads in 2018, and shortlisted in 2019. She currently lives in Montreal.