Polynya

“One word: masterful.”

– Chantal Guy, La Presse

“A magnificent novel”

– Marie-France Bornais, Canoe.ca

“Intense and refreshing”

– Danielle Laurin, Le Devoir

Best Québécois Book, 2011

– La Presse

In the Arctic Circle village of Iqaluit, known as the Las Vegas of the North, Rosaire Nicolet is found dead in a seedy hotel room rented by a stripper. Rosaire’s younger brother Ambroise arrives in town to identify the body. Ambroise worshiped his brother and wants answers. While investigators suspect a crime of passion, Ambroise has a very different theory. Polynya delves into the mysterious and poetic polar world of Baffin Island, where a cast of characters live on the margins and everyone is not necessarily to be believed.

Mélanie Vincelette is already a respected figure of the Quebec literary world. Polynya was short listed for the Governor General’s Award for French-language fiction in 2011 and was voted the best book of 2011 by La Presse. Her first novel, Crimes horticoles(Horticultural Crimes) was published in 2006 and won the Anne Hébert Prize. In 2006, she won the Radio Canada Book Award. Vincelette lives in Montreal.