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