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The Break

By: Katherena Vermette
Narrated by: Michaela Washburn
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Publisher's summary

2017 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Literature Finalist
Winner, Amazon.ca First Novel Award
Winner, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
Winner, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award
Winner, McNally Robinson Book of the Year
A Canada Reads 2017 finalist
National Bestseller
2016 Governor General's Literary Award Finalist
2016 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize Finalist
National Post 99 Best Books of the Year
CBC Best Canadian Debut Novels 2016
Globe and Mail Best 100 Books of 2016
Quill & Quire Book of the Year
Kobo Best Books of the Year
Walrus Magazine The Best Books of 2016
49th Shelf Books of the Year

When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break - a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house - she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime.

In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim - police, family, and friends - tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou, a social worker, grapples with the departure of her live-in boyfriend. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister Rain. Paulina, a single mother, struggles to trust her new partner. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre. Officer Scott, a Métis policeman, feels caught between two worlds as he patrols the city. Through their various perspectives a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg's North End is exposed.

A powerful intergenerational family saga, The Break showcases Vermette's abundant writing talent and positions her as an exciting new voice in Canadian literature.

©2016 Katherena Vermette (P)2017 Anansi Audio
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What listeners say about The Break

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beautiful, loving, spiritual, storytelling

I loved this book! The narrator was amazing in capturing so many different characters. Beautiful story that I will not forget

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a wonderful novel!

This is a brilliant story, artfully told, about a community of Indigenous women. Listen to it. Then read it. You won't be sorry.

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Required reading

This is a book that should be read by all Canadians. Beautifully written, this book provided a life altering perspective to a middle class white girl, who grew up on the other side of the tracks, somehow oblivious to the challenges facing so many people.

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The book and narrator are fantastic.

This Book will capture and hold your attention through the last chapter. Note of advice, jot down the names of characters and their relationships to one another in the 1st few chapters.

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Well crafted book

I'm amazed that this book only has 52 reviews on audible. This book was phenomenal and can we please get this narrator on more indigenous authored titles?!?! It had adorable characters, beatitude, pain, depth, plot twists, humor, flowed at a good pace, and the ending was wrapped up neatly. Although, I can almost envision (wishful thinking?) a part two. I hope to read more by this author soon!

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