| Vendor | |
|---|---|
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Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik |
| Original language | |
| French | |
KUKUM
Love brings orphaned Almanda in an Innu community, where she will struggle to get accepted and break down the barriers that Indigenous women face.
DESCRIPTION
This novel tells the story of Almanda Siméon, an orphan who goes to share her life with the Pekuakami Innu community. They come to accept her as one of their own when she falls in love with a young Innu man. She goes on to learn not only the language, but also how to live a nomadic existence, and succeeds in breaking down the barriers forced on Indigenous women. As time passes, Almanda and her family find themselves facing the loss of their traditional lands, being confined to reserves and enduring the violence of residential schools. Unfolding over the course of a century, this woman's story is recounted from a personal perspective, expressing the attachment of the Innu to their ancestral values and the need for freedom still felt by nomadic peoples to this day.
EXCERPT
It was one of those nights, when I was milking the cows in the dappled light of the setting sun, that I saw her for the first time. Summer was just beginning, a warm breeze sweeping through the tall grass. A canoe came into sight, making its way down the Rivière à la Chasse in silence. A bare-chested young man with coppery skin was paddling with no great hurry, content to let the current sweep him along. He looked barely older than me, and from where I was standing, I could see five bustards lying in the bottom of his birch-bark boat. Our eyes met. He didn't smile. And I wasn't afraid. The hunter disappeared around a meander in the river, behind a hill.
[ ]
The next day, the canoe reappeared around the same time, filled with bustards once more, all fanned out. The boy stared at me with his slanting eyes. I waved to him, and he tilted his head.
AUTHOR
Michel Jean is a TV anchorman, presenter and investigative journalist revered and appreciated by audiences across Quebec. In March 2017, he was invited to the Paris Book Fair on the strength of Amun, a collection of Indigenous short stories he curated, which is slated for distribution in France and is currently being translated into English and German.
This novel tells the story of Almanda Siméon, an orphan who goes to share her life with the Pekuakami Innu community. They come to accept her as one of their own when she falls in love with a young Innu man. She goes on to learn not only the language, but also how to live a nomadic existence, and succeeds in breaking down the barriers forced on Indigenous women. As time passes, Almanda and her family find themselves facing the loss of their traditional lands, being confined to reserves and enduring the violence of residential schools. Unfolding over the course of a century, this woman's story is recounted from a personal perspective, expressing the attachment of the Innu to their ancestral values and the need for freedom still felt by nomadic peoples to this day.
EXCERPT
It was one of those nights, when I was milking the cows in the dappled light of the setting sun, that I saw her for the first time. Summer was just beginning, a warm breeze sweeping through the tall grass. A canoe came into sight, making its way down the Rivière à la Chasse in silence. A bare-chested young man with coppery skin was paddling with no great hurry, content to let the current sweep him along. He looked barely older than me, and from where I was standing, I could see five bustards lying in the bottom of his birch-bark boat. Our eyes met. He didn't smile. And I wasn't afraid. The hunter disappeared around a meander in the river, behind a hill.
[ ]
The next day, the canoe reappeared around the same time, filled with bustards once more, all fanned out. The boy stared at me with his slanting eyes. I waved to him, and he tilted his head.
AUTHOR
Michel Jean is a TV anchorman, presenter and investigative journalist revered and appreciated by audiences across Quebec. In March 2017, he was invited to the Paris Book Fair on the strength of Amun, a collection of Indigenous short stories he curated, which is slated for distribution in France and is currently being translated into English and German.
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Book
Published 2019-09-01 by Libre Expression |