The Party Wall
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Catherine Leroux’s The Party Wall shifts between and ties together stories about pairs joined in surprising ways. A woman learns that she may not be the biological mother of her own son despite having given birth to him; a brother and sister unite, as their mother dies, to search for their long-lost father; two young sisters take a detour home, unaware of the tragedy that awaits; and a political couple-when the husband accedes to power in a post-apocalyptic future state-is shaken by the revelation of their own shared, if equally unknown, history.
Lyrical, intelligent, and profound, The Party Wall is luminously human, a surreally unforgettable journey through the barriers that can both separate us and bring us together.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Lazer
Lederhendler
Lazer Lederhendler is a Canadian literary translator and academic.
A four-time nominee for the Governor General’s Award for French to English translation, he won the award in 2008 for his translation of Nicolas Dickner’s novel Nikolski. He has also been nominated for his translations of works by Claire Dé (The Sparrow Has Cut the Day in Half), Pierre Tourangeau (Larry Volt), Edem Awumey (Dirty Feet) and Gaétan Soucy (The Immaculate Conception). His translation of The Immaculate Conception was also a nominee for the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and won the French-to-English Translation Prize from the Quebec Writers’ Federation Awards. His translation of The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux won the 2016 Governor General’s Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Lederhendler teaches English and film at the Collège international des Marcellines in Montreal, Quebec. He went to the Bundist Camp Hemshekh.
Lazer Lederhendler is a Canadian literary translator and academic.
A four-time nominee for the Governor General’s Award for French to English translation, he won the award in 2008 for his translation of Nicolas Dickner’s novel Nikolski. He has also been nominated for his translations of works by Claire Dé (The Sparrow Has Cut the Day in Half), Pierre Tourangeau (Larry Volt), Edem Awumey (Dirty Feet) and Gaétan Soucy (The Immaculate Conception). His translation of The Immaculate Conception was also a nominee for the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and won the French-to-English Translation Prize from the Quebec Writers’ Federation Awards. His translation of The Party Wall by Catherine Leroux won the 2016 Governor General’s Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Lederhendler teaches English and film at the Collège international des Marcellines in Montreal, Quebec. He went to the Bundist Camp Hemshekh.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
With a great sensibility and a feel of human affiliations, Catherine Leroux offers the ambitious story of family tragedies linking and dividing their members at the same time.
The Party Wall ably represents Canada’s linguistic duality, and indeed illustrates a growing public acceptance of great writing in either language. Acclaimed author Catherine Leroux uses a prose style that is “sublime, filled with vivid imagery, startling similes, and universal truths.” (Kimbofo, Kevin from Canada). The Party Wall won the Governor General’s Award for French to English translation; was a finalist of the Giller Prize; Le mur mitoyen was awarded Prix littéraire France-Quebéc, and finalist for the Grand prix du livre de Montréal.