THE STRANGERS by Katherena Vermette (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Canada) has been named Chapter Indigo’s Best Book of 2021! Congratulations Katherena! THE STRANGERS was also longlisted for the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize and shortlisted for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, among many other accolades.
From Indigo:
“Our Best Book of the Year, this captivating novel traces the entwined lives of four Metis women living in Winnipeg. Exploring themes of race and class, Vermette brings a deeply human perspective to the heartbreaking reality of intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities.”
To see the full list of Indigo’s Top 10 Books of 2021, please visit: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/best-books-of-2021/?ref=shop%3Ahome%3Ahome-main%3A02-hp-3column-30-off%3Aeb-c&cl=02-hp-3column-30-off_eb-c&fbclid=IwAR2qh2WzTaNRhhw1Jk4HRxqnJblOvc56IPA5Zt8hndg2QZ3OdjUleWATtwQ
Praise for The Strangers:
One of:
Quill & Quire’s “2021 Best of Fall guide”
CBC’s “65 Canadian Works of Fiction to Watch Out for in Fall 2021”
Chatelaine’s “5 New Books to Read This Fall”
Toronto Star’s “35 Books you need to know about in fall 2021”
CBC’s “The most exciting Canadian books coming out in Fall 2021”
Shedoesthecity’s “Fall Releases That Should Be On Your Radar”
CBC’s “33 Canadian books coming out in September we can’t wait to read”
NOW Magazine’s “15 best new books to read this fall”
Elle’s “10 Books You’ll Want to Read This Fall”
“Katherena Vermette’s The Strangers is a deeply moving story of how colonial institutions continue to bear down on and disrupt the lives of Indigenous women and girls. It is a powerful collective portrait of struggle and resistance, of what it’s like to be in an Indigenous body in twenty-first century Canada. In the end, it adds up to an engrossingly written ode to another kind of care, one against the grain of suffering. A brilliant follow-up!”—Billy-Ray Belcourt, bestselling author of A History of My Brief Body
“The Strangers is a unique and essential triumph of a novel. It is revelatory in its artistry—in its constellating of family against violent separation, in its austere poetics of voice and consciousness. Katherena Vermette has proven once again that she is among the most gifted and relevant writers of our time: someone with everything to teach us about the telling of necessary stories, about grieving the fallen, honouring survival, and revealing the fiercest beauty.”—David Chariandy, award-winning author of Brother and I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You
“With its relevant subject matter and poignant prose, Vermette’s second novel is poised to be as triumphant as her first. [In The Strangers], the author crafts another strong, emotional portrait of Indigenous women.”—Canadian Living
“Filled with vulnerability and loss. . . . It’s an honest confrontation of Indigenous identity.”―Chatelaine
“Vermette has a way of seeing light through the crack in the wall of a dark room.”—NOW Magazine
Katherena Vermette (she/her) is a Red River Métis (Michif) writer from Treaty 1 territory, the heart of the Métis nation—Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Her first book, North End Love Songs, won the 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her first novel, The Break, was a national bestseller and won several 2017 awards, including the Amazon First Novel Award, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction, Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, and McNally Robinson Book of the Year. She lives with her family in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River. The Strangers is her second novel. Katherena is represented by Marilyn Biderman.