Enlarge Image
To embed a link to this book on your own website, please copy the script below.
Told with startling, unapologetic honesty and in a haunting, minimalist style, Lightness is the story of a woman's profound sense of alienation, beginning with her own physical body and its desires. In this original and moving take on anorexia, we go deep into the mind of the ... Read more
Told with startling, unapologetic honesty and in a haunting, minimalist style, Lightness is the story of a woman's profound sense of alienation, beginning with her own physical body and its desires. In this original and moving take on anorexia, we go deep into the mind of the narrator as she carries out her secret, prolonged hunger strike against the constraints of her life. The original French version of Lightness (Déterrer les os) won the Best First Novel Prize at the Biennale littéraire des Cèdres in 2018 and was adapted for stage at the Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui in Montreal.
Fanie Demeule is finishing a doctorate at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where she is lecturer in the Département d’études littéraires. The original French version of Lightness (Déterrer les os) won Best First Novel at the Biennale littéraire des Cèdres in 2018 and has been adapted for the. Her second novel, Roux clair naturel, was published in 2019 to much acclaim. Lightness is the first time her work is appearing in English. She lives in Montreal.
My mother goes away and leaves me in my godmother's capable hands. What my godmother doesn't know is that my world revolves around excess. Whenever it's time to wean me, I throw a tantrum. My mother had let her know that I love grapefruit. So she arrives with a whole case. At snack time, she brings me to the table and slices a nice, juicy, pink one. The aroma of paradise splashes my face and wakes up the monster in me. I begin to choke on my saliva. She brings the first piece to my mouth, and the momentum is unleashed. The pulp of this grapefruit is so perfectly and deliciously sweet that I need more, many more, so I can have this taste on my tongue forever. I eat a grapefruit, then, from somewhere deep and guttural inside me, demand another. More, I order her. My godmother cuts up another grapefruit and I immediately devour it. Grunting, I ask for more. I suck up the juice until the fruit is nothing more than an empty, dry piece of rind. After the sixth one, she calls my mother. "Your daughter's eaten a lot of grapefruit. She's already had six and she wants another one. Should I give it to her?" "No. She could go on forever. " She's right. Whenever I'm told that something has to stop, a part of me breaks down a little more.
Sign Up or Sign In to add your review or comment.
Throughout 2020, All Lit Up-er Tan Light is participating in BookRiot's Read Harder Challenge—a reading task designed to expand readerly boundaries—and doing so with an indie twist. Each entry in this series will highlight one or two completed challenges along with ... Read more
Two weeks into this year's late MLB season, some of us can appreciate—baseball is BACK! To celebrate we're revisiting an old favourite, Andrew Forbes's The Utility of Boredom (Invisible Publishing), a power-hitter collection of essays for inside baseball types and casual ... Read more
Celebrated as one of Canada's well-known and award-winning Indigenous authors, Richard Van Camp began his career with a collection of short stories— Angel Wing Splash Pattern (Kegedonce Press)—a playful, profound collection of stories that are very much grounded in ... Read more
Any art lovers in the house? We've got you covered with five reads that explore everything from what it means to be an artist, how we assign value to art, the complex practice of curation and more!
This week we recommended books to beat the quarantine ennui, chatted with author Shani Mootoo for #ALUbookclub, read harder with a duo of books by authors of colour, and more!
Throughout 2020, All Lit Up-er Tan Light is participating in BookRiot's Read Harder Challenge—a reading task designed to expand readerly boundaries—and doing so with an indie twist. Each entry in this series will highlight one or two completed challenges along with ... Read more
Last week we introduced you to our July book club pick Polar Vortex by Shani Mootoo with a little behind-the-scenes interview with publisher Book*hug Press on how the book came to be. This week we put on our best Zoom backgrounds and got chatty with each other about ... Read more
After a music reviewing gig at the age of seventeen led him to travel writing, author Trevor Carolan has been regaling readers about his extensive travels around the world. He's since visited more than fifty countries and written several books of non-fiction, including three ... Read more
Throughout 2020, All Lit Up-er Tan Light is participating in BookRiot's Read Harder Challenge—a reading task designed to expand readerly boundaries—and doing so with an indie twist. Each entry in this series will highlight one or two completed challenges along with ... Read more
Exploring death and mourning, Locations of Grief (Wolsak and Wynn) collects essays from twenty-four Canadian writers that span different ages, ethnicities, and gender identities about their struggles and journeys relating to death. Below editor Catherine Owen asks some ... Read more
Copyright © 2020 All Lit Up. All Rights Reserved.
All Lit Up is produced by the Literary Press Group and LitDistCo. LPG and LitDistCo acknowledge the financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council.
All views expressed by bloggers and contributors to the All Lit Up blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of All Lit Up or the Literary Press Group.
All Lit Up acknowledges we are hosted on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat. We also recognize the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and the Inuit people, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to meet and work on this territory.
