NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

In The Break, Katherena Vermette brings a poet’s way with language to a story that brings together ten points of view around a brutal act of violence. With great empathy, she illustrates the generational effects of trauma on indigenous women and families, while also highlighting her characters’ resilience and close bonds of love.

This powerful and timely novel, set within the indigenous community of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, features accomplished prose and a riveting narrative. Vermette creates unforgettable characters who capture readers and draw us into the emotionally demanding. Through these heartbreaking characters, the novel addresses substantial social issues, including violence against indigenous women. The Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Award jury observed that “this is a novel of social importance (which) transcends politics.” The themes are anchored in the depiction of a particularly Canadian tragedy, the the motivations and emotions will resonate any place where there are indigenous cultures. Vermette imbues The Break with compassion. However, although the context of the story is tragic, there is hope in the message of endurance and survival through love and community. Structurally, the rotation of characters’ voices has been likened to a talking circle, allowing the back stories to be revealed and the plot to build via many single tracks which eventually become a multi-part choir. This cyclical technique offers no tidy conclusions, but rather challenges readers to think long after the last page. The Break is an important book from an independent Canadian publisher.  Finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Roger’s Writers Trust Fiction Prize, Canada Reads and others and included on many “best” lists.