by Catherine Leroux
This is a Quebecoise author, the book is translated into English. I think it is a finalist for the Man Booker or the Governmor General's awards this year.
It is a series of short stories, involving pairs of individuals. There are several stories for each of the pairs and at the end of the book several of the characters, from the different stories, get connected.
I don't usually like short stories but I have to say she is amazing at how she portrays powerful stories/situations in a very few pages. The stories are a bit quirky. One is about a woman whose son is a drifter. He comes home because he is ill and when she gets tested as an organ donor for him she is told she is not related to him genetically. She later learns that she is a Chimera, two distinct DNA in her body because of an undeveloped twin within her. Another story is about two sisters who wander around their town and one of them loses her legs on train tracks. A third pair is about a man who succeeds in becoming Prime Minister but whose success is destroyed when his wife discovers that they are actually brother and sister. They were given away for adoption when they were born. They still love each other and head out to the prairies to start a new life under assumed names.
It was a fascinating read, very sad at times, but an exceptional book.
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