For a bit of thriller, strive Louise Penny’s standard “Three Pines” detective sequence. Although set in a fictional city in Quebec, her novels typically characteristic Montreal (“Glass Homes” particularly.) Kathy Reichs reveals the bones of town in her thriller “Déjà Lifeless.” And Montreal’s wealthy queer tradition is captured within the coming-of-age novels “The Geography of Pluto,” by Christopher DiRaddo, and “Bottle Rocket Hearts,” by Zoe Whittall.
Maybe nothing will get you extra excited to journey to Montreal than the dazzling work of Heather O’Neill. In novels like “Lullabies for Little Criminals” and “The Lonely Hearts Lodge,” O’Neill captures each the darkness and the dreaminess of town in shimmering colours. O’Neill’s newest, “When We Misplaced Our Heads,” is a dizzying confection, providing a Nineteenth-century glimpse of Montreal’s Golden Sq. Mile neighborhood with a pointy eye.
What tales present a glimpse into fashionable Montreal?
Amongst extra up to date books, there may be an abundance of literary gems: “Our Woman of Mile Finish,” by Sarah Gilbert, a group of brief tales set within the neighborhood of the identical title; “Ru,” by Kim Thúy, a beautiful Vietnamese immigrant story woven out of poignant vignettes; and “The Wagers,” by Sean Michaels, which evokes each the quotidian and magical parts of town.
What books will take me behind closed doorways?
A bunch of sensible Montreal novels each evoke place and showcase the underbelly experiences of those that, for any variety of causes, reside within the margins. Within the vitriolic symphony that’s “Cockroach,” by Rawi Hage, a struggling Lebanese immigrant imagines himself to be a literal cockroach. “Bone and Bread,” by Saleema Nawaz, explores the tumultuous lives of two orphaned sisters who grew up in a Hasidic neighborhood in Mile Finish. For a darkish depiction of the working life (and Montreal loves a darkish depiction of the working life), take into account “The Dishwasher,” by Stéphane Larue, which was tailored into a movie, or the fiery and incantatory “Whore,” by Nelly Arcan.
What literary landmarks and bookstores ought to I go to?
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly is a ravishing unbiased bookshop within the coronary heart of Montreal’s Plateau space. It’s additionally an internationally famend writer of comics, together with work by Kate Beaton, Adrian Tomine, Lynda Barry and Chester Brown, amongst many others. The bookstore’s idiosyncratically curated choice of titles and its beautiful and singular inside make this a must-see. Different pretty English-language bookshops to go to alongside the way in which: Librairie Saint-Henri Books, Argo Bookshop (Montreal’s oldest indie), The Phrase.
