Neighbourhood Watch

Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette is a novelist, screenwriter, and director. Her bestselling novel La femme qui fuit -- inspired by her own grandmother's life as an artist -- was translated into English and titled Suzanne. In French, it won the Prix des libraires du Québec and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for French-language fiction. In English, it was a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award in 2018 and Canada Reads in 2019. She currently lives in Montreal. Rhonda Mullins is a writer and translator. She received the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for Twenty-One Cardinals, her translation of Jocelyne Saucier's Les héritiers de la mine. And the Birds Rained Down, her translation of Jocelyne Saucier’s Il pleuvait des oiseaux, was a CBC Canada Reads Selection. It was also shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award, as were her translations of Élise Turcotte’s Guyana and Hervé Fischer’s The Decline of the Hollywood Empire. Suzanne, her translation of Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s La femme qui fuit, was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award, longlisted for CBC Canada Reads in 2018, and shortlisted in 2019. She currently lives in Montreal. Rhonda Mullins is a writer and translator. She received the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for Twenty-One Cardinals, her translation of Jocelyne Saucier's Les héritiers de la mine. And the Birds Rained Down, her translation of Jocelyne Saucier’s Il pleuvait des oiseaux, was a CBC Canada Reads Selection. It was also shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award, as were her translations of Élise Turcotte’s Guyana and Hervé Fischer’s The Decline of the Hollywood Empire. Suzanne, her translation of Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s La femme qui fuit, was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award, longlisted for CBC Canada Reads in 2018, and shortlisted in 2019. She currently lives in Montreal.

“You’ll recognize in this novel scenes from The Ring. The idea for this book was born long before.… After the film, she wanted to pursue their stories, without the heaviness of film.… The narration borrows the point of view and the crude and sometimes awkward language of the characters.” —La Presse"Barbeau-Lavalette brings a filmmaker’s eye to each scene, framing every vignette with both a startling beauty and a heartbreaking realism. That the book features a new interview with the young woman who was the model for Roxanne only adds to its intimate verisimilitude. The result is a powerful, unforgettable read." - Toronto Star“Barbeau-Lavalette takes on a naive and charming tone without a trace of miserabilism.” —Voir Montréal