paleshadows_dominique_fortier
2025 Longlist

Pale Shadows

Translated from the French
artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

When she died, Emily Dickinson left behind hundreds of texts scribbled on scraps of paper. She also left behind three formidable women: her steadfast sister, her brother’s ambitious mistress, and his grief-stricken wife. With no clear instructions from Emily, these three women would, through mourning and strife, make from those scraps of paper a book that would change literature. This is the improbable, almost miraculous, story of the birth of a book years after the death of its author. In these sensitive and luminous pages, Dominique Fortier explores, through Dickinson’s poetry, the mysterious power that books have over our lives, and the fragile and necessary character of literature.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Dominique
Fortier

Dominique Fortier is a novelist and translator. She has translated Anne Michaels, Margaret Laurence, and Mordecai Richler, among others, and is a four-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for translation. Her first novel, Du bon usage des étoiles (On the Proper Use of Stars), was nominated for a Governor General’s Award and the Prix des Libraires du Québec, and Au péril de la mer (The Island of Books) won the Governor General’s Award. Fortier is a member of the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco literary council. She divides her time between Montreal and Maine.

Dominique Fortier is a novelist and translator. She has translated Anne Michaels, Margaret Laurence, and Mordecai Richler, among others, and is a four-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for translation. Her first novel, Du bon usage des étoiles (On the Proper Use of Stars), was nominated for a Governor General’s Award and the Prix des Libraires du Québec, and Au péril de la mer (The Island of Books) won the Governor General’s Award. Fortier is a member of the Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco literary council. She divides her time between Montreal and Maine.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Rhonda
Mullins

Rhonda Mullins has translated many books from French into English, including Grégoire Courtois’s The Laws of the Skies, Dominique Fortier’s Paper Houses, and Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Suzanne. She is a seven-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation, winning the award for her translation of Jocelyne Saucier’s Twenty-One Cardinals. Novels she has translated have been contenders for CBC Canada Reads, and Suzanne was a finalist for the 2018 Best Translated Book Award. Mullins was the inaugural literary translator in residence at Concordia University in 2018. She is a mentor to emerging translators in the Banff International Literary Translation Program.

 

Rhonda Mullins has translated many books from French into English, including Grégoire Courtois’s The Laws of the Skies, Dominique Fortier’s Paper Houses, and Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Suzanne. She is a seven-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation, winning the award for her translation of Jocelyne Saucier’s Twenty-One Cardinals. Novels she has translated have been contenders for CBC Canada Reads, and Suzanne was a finalist for the 2018 Best Translated Book Award. Mullins was the inaugural literary translator in residence at Concordia University in 2018. She is a mentor to emerging translators in the Banff International Literary Translation Program.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Date published
21/03/2024
Country
Canada
Original Language
French
Publisher
Coach House Books
Translator
Rhonda Mullins
Translation
Translated from the French
Borrow this book from Libraries Ireland

RELATED FEATURES

News January 15 2025

2025 Longlist Revealed

Novels by seven Irish authors are among the 71 books nominated by 83 libraries around the world!
News November 19 2024

2025 Dublin Literary Award Judges Announced

Meet our judging panel for 2025 Dublin Literary Award
Video November 1 2024

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony

2024 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony announcement live-streamed from the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Audio June 11 2024

All About Books Podcast Features the 2024 Dublin Literary Award

Dublin City FM podcaster Katy Conneely spotlights the award.

STAY CONNECTED

Stay in touch and sign up to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and updates on the Dublin Literary Award.