Elle

By (author): Douglas Glover

Afterword by: Lawrence Mathews

Winner, Governor General’s Award for Fiction
Shortlisted, IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

A 16th-century belle turned Robinson Crusoe, a female Don Quixote with an Inuit Sancho Panza — this is the heroine of the novel that won the 2003 Governor General’s Award. Elle is a lusty, subversive riff on the discovery of the New World, the moment of first contact.

Based on what might be a true story, the novel chronicles the ordeals and adventures of a young French woman marooned on the desolate Isle of Demons during Jacques Cartier’s ill-fated third and last attempt to colonize Canada.

In this new readers’ guide edition, Douglas Glover’s carnal whirlwind of myth and story, of beauty and hilarity brings the past violently and unexpectedly into the present. His well-known scatological realism, exuberant violence, and dark, unsettling humour give his unique version of history a thoroughly modern chill.

AUTHOR

Douglas Glover

Born in 1948 on a tobacco farm in Ontario, writer and critic Douglas Glover is the author of many works of fiction including Dog Attempts to Drown Man in Saskatoon (1985). He currently lives and teaches in upper New York State.

AUTHOR

Lawrence Mathews

Lawrence Mathews teaches English at Memorial University. He has published stories in numerous anthologies and journals and is the author of The Sandblasting Hall of Fame. He is a founding member of the Burning Rock, a group of Newfoundland writers that includes Michael Winter and Lisa Moore.

Reviews

Imagine a 16th-century society belle turned Robinson Crusoe, a female Don Quixote with an Inuit Sancho Panza, and you’ll have an inkling of what’s in store in Douglas Glover’s outrageously modern historical novel. Mysterious, mystical, and thoroughly original, Elle is lusty, subversive riff on the discovery of the New World at the moment of first contact.

Based on a true story, Elle chronicles the ordeals of a young Frenchwoman marooned on the desolate Isle of Demons during Jacques Cartier’s last, ill-fated attempt to colonize North America. In a carnal whirlwind of myth and story, of death, lust, and love, of beauty and hilarity, Glover brings the past violently and unexpectedly into the present.


“Lascivious, bizarre, entertaining… Glover has a wonderful facility for imagery, language, farce, and the grotesque.”
Quill & Quire

“[Elle is] a maginificent hail Mary of pure imagination… a ribald, raunchy wit with a talent for searing self-investigation… Glover’s prose throughout, while being consistent in voice, is also a rich blend of elegance and punch, raw affect and slippery allusion.”
Globe and Mail

“Historical fiction at its most innovative, a seriously whimsical book full of arcane lore from the first days of the European settlement of the New World. A remarkable, wondrous experience.”

Awards

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Winner, Governor General’s Award for Fiction
Shortlisted, IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

A 16th-century belle turned Robinson Crusoe, a female Don Quixote with an Inuit Sancho Panza — this is the heroine of the novel that won the 2003 Governor General’s Award. Elle is a lusty, subversive riff on the discovery of the New World, the moment of first contact.

Based on what might be a true story, the novel chronicles the ordeals and adventures of a young French woman marooned on the desolate Isle of Demons during Jacques Cartier’s ill-fated third and last attempt to colonize Canada.

In this new readers’ guide edition, Douglas Glover’s carnal whirlwind of myth and story, of beauty and hilarity brings the past violently and unexpectedly into the present. His well-known scatological realism, exuberant violence, and dark, unsettling humour give his unique version of history a thoroughly modern chill.

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

226 Pages
8.5in * 5.5in * 0.56in
304gr

Published:

September 07, 2007

Publisher:

Goose Lane Editions

ISBN:

9780864924926

9780864925619 – EPUB

Book Subjects:

FICTION / Literary

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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