Happy Book Birthday to Joanne Proulx‘s highly anticipated new novel WE ALL LOVE THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS publishing with Viking Penguin Canada today!! And in the US from Grand Central Publishing in 2018. Proulx’s internationally bestselling debut novel Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is forthcoming as a feature film with movie stars Cameron Monaghan (Shameless), Peyton List (BUNK’D) and Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers).
For fans of propulsive family dramas, calling to mind The Ice Storm and American Beauty, WE ALL LOVE THE BEAUTIFUL 
GIRLS by Joanne Proulx is a story about marriage, power, financial dependence, instinct, sex and survival in contemporary society, and if, or how, love fits in.
Who do the lucky become when their luck sours?
One frigid winter night, the happily prosperous Mia and Michael Slate discover that a close friend and business partner has cheated them out of their life savings. On the same night, their son, Finn, passes out in the snow at a party – a mistake with shattering consequences.
Everyone finds their own ways of coping with the ensuing losses. For Finn, it’s Jess, a former babysitter who sneaks into his bed at night, even as she refuses to leave her boyfriend. Mia and Michael find themselves forgoing tenderness for rougher sex and seeking solace outside their marriage: Mia in a flirtation with a former colleague, whose empty condo becomes a blank canvas for a new life, and Michael at an abandoned baseball diamond, with a rusty pitching machine and a street kid eager to catch balls in Finn’s old glove. As they creep closer to the edge – of betrayal, infidelity, and revenge – the story moves into more savage terrain.
With honesty, compassion, and tough emotional precision, award-winning author Joanne Proulx explores the itch of the flesh, sexual aggression, the reach of love and anger, and the question of who ultimately suffers when the privileged stumble.
The rave reviews for this highly anticipated novel are already coming in, first from The Toronto Star, “It’s striking because it’s not a conversation we’re used to having.” Full review here: Thestar.com/reviews/joanne-proulx
Pre-publication Praise:
“An emotional thrill-ride that manages to capture the tenderness and rage unique to adolescence and middle-age, the heartbreak of first love, and the fragility of even the most stable-seeming marriage.” –Zoe Whittall, bestselling author of The Best Kind of People
“‘Be good,’ one character tells another early in We All Love the Beautiful Girls. No one in this devastating novel heeds this advice. Proulx has written a story that’s as gorgeous as the winter stars overhead. You will all love this beautiful book.” –Neil Smith, author of Boo
“We All Love the Beautiful Girls is a gripping tale of love gone awry, In a lively plot filled with twists and turns, Joanne Proulx’s characters flail about and pay a high price for their impulsiveness and rage. This is a book to keep readers glued to the page, and enthralled by the author’s skill and wisdom.” –Lynne Sharon Schwartz, author of Two-Part Inventions
“Joanne Proulx is a rare talent.” –Lauren B. Davis
Joanne Proulx’s debut novel Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet, published internationally (Penguin Canada; Soho US; Picador MacMillan UK; Arena, Netherlands), was selected by Border’s in 2008 for their prestigious Best New Voices series and was the recipient of Canada’s Sunburst Award for Fantastic Fiction and named a best debut of 2007 by The Globe and Mail. Proulx is an MFA graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars where she workshopped We All Love the Beautiful Girls.
Praise for Joanne Proulx’s debut novel: ANTHEM OF A RELUCTANT PROPHET by Joanne Proulx
- Winner 2008 Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, Best YA Title
- The Globe and Mail Best Debut Book of 2007
- Shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award
“Proulx channels ennui, insecurity and inner yearnings of a teenage boy to produce a fast-moving tale of struggling youth.” –Publishers Weekly
“[Proulx] weaves a compelling narrative about seeking faith and deftly channels the voice of a disaffected stoner.” –Entertainment Weekly
“Proulx is pitch-perfect in her portrayal of the potty-mouthed, weed-smoking, angst-ridden adolescent narrator. A debut novel that’s sharp, edgy and slightly skewed – all qualities Luke consummately embodies.” –Kirkus Reviews
“…believable and engaging” –Booklist
“Proulx has a sure hand that renders Luke’s experience painfully, viscerally real. He’s funny, convincing and sympathetic, his voice expressing the subtly shifting balance of vulnerable child and diffident teenage boy … the book combines a dry humour with moments that are deeply and unexpectedly affecting. Luke’s is a thoughtful coming of age that is, above all, utterly engrossing.” –Observer
“Ottawa writer Joanne Proulx’s debut novel rocks, and her teenage protagonist, Luke Hunter, the reluctant prophet of the title, rules. Forgive me for sounding juvenile, but I can’t help myself. This is a great book, and Proulx’s rendering of teenage angst is crafted with such precision and compassion that the reader rides the waves of fear, depression and elation that propel Luke’s chaotic life, paying little attention to the skill that drives the narrative. But after the breathless, lyric close that leaves Luke on the brink of adulthood, it is impossible not to marvel at Proulx’s mastery. The degree of her accomplishment — it is rare that a novel is so finely realized — resides largely in the first-person voice that claims this coming-of-age story…With undeniable candour and perfect pitch, Proulx renders Luke’s abject tale, his articulation of a life in perpetual crisis and his search for meaning in his uncanny ability to predict death…Her ability to evoke the day-to-day concerns and interior life of a teenager is as uncanny as Luke’s own prophesying…” –National Post
“An assured first novel… Proulx’s inspired opening salvo settles into a detailed, chatty character study. The anecdotal voice is all Luke’s, a narrative rippling with author’s insight slyly encoded in the hormone itch and cooler-than-thou posturing of a mixed-up teen…The beauty of this story is its complete and beguiling faithfulness to Luke’s inner world. I felt I was back inside 17, plagued by self-doubt, social blunders and sexual angst, stumbling toward some kind – any kind – of identity…Proulx’s message is expertly wrapped in her storytelling. Unaware, you watch Luke, recognize him, worry for him, until gradually you feel his ache, and his aching entry to adulthood, in your bones.” –The Globe and Mail