The Weight of Snow. Christian Guay-Poliquin

      

      Winner – Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction

      Winner – Prix Littéraire France-Québec

      Winner – Prix Ringuet

      Winner – Prix Littéraire des Collégiens

      A badly injured man. A nationwide power failure. A village buried in snow. A desperate struggle for survival. These are the ingredients of The Weight of Snow, Christian Guay-Poliquin’s riveting new novel. After surviving a major accident, the book’s protagonist is entrusted to Matthias, a taciturn old man who agrees to heal his wounds in exchange for supplies and a chance of escape. The two men become prisoners of the elements and of their own rough confrontation as the centimetres of snow accumulate relentlessly. Surrounded by a nature both hostile and sublime, their relationship oscillates between commiseration, mistrust, and mutual aid. Will they manage to hold out against external threats and intimate pitfalls?

      “A dark and mesmerizing story, attentive to the dramatic and cold beauty of the landscape, the dislocating social bonds, the disarray and the dormant violence, choked by winter but ready to be reborn at the first signs of thawing … One of the strongest novels this season.”

      —Christian Desmeules, Le Devoir

      “A hypnotic, claustrophobic story … Guay-Poliquin manages to keep us on our heels until the very end. A book that shines like snow melting under a winter sun.”

      —Josée Lapointe, La Presse+

      “The novel’s dramatic force is perfectly mastered, and results in one of the biggest successes of the year.”

      —LesLibraires.ca

      Table of Contents

      1  I. LABYRINTH THIRTY-EIGHT THIRTY-NINE FORTY-ONE FORTY-TWO FORTY-TWO FORTY-TWO FORTY-FIVE FORTY-FIVE FORTY-FIVE FORTY-SEVEN FIFTY-SIX FIFTY-SIX FIFTY-SIX

      2  II. MAZE SIXTY-TWO SIXTY-THREE SEVENTY-ONE SEVENTY-SEVEN SEVENTY-SEVEN EIGHTY-ONE EIGHTY-ONE EIGHTY-ONE

      3  III. ICARUS EIGHTY-FOUR EIGHTY-EIGHT EIGHTY-EIGHT NINETY-SIX ONE HUNDRED NINE ONE HUNDRED NINE ONE HUNDRED NINE ONE HUNDRED NINE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FOUR ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FOUR ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-EIGHT ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR ONE HUNDRED NINETY-TWO TWO HUNDRED SIX

      4  IV. WINGS TWO HUNDRED SIX TWO HUNDRED EIGHT TWO HUNDRED TWO TWO HUNDRED FIVE

      5  V. MAZE TWO HUNDRED FIVE TWO HUNDRED FIVE TWO HUNDRED SIXTEEN TWO HUNDRED SEVENTEEN TWO HUNDRED FORTY-TWO TWO HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN TWO HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN TWO HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN TWO HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE

      6  VI. ICARUS TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-THREE TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE TWO HUNDRED FOUR ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE