New Releases by Marie-Claire Blais

In Mai at the Predators' Ball, Marie-Claire Blais, literary legend and four-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction, offers a mesmerizing and unforgettable portrait of imaginary beings who seem to embrace the whole of humanity.

Every night in the Saloon, after darkness falls, a group of boys are transformed into creatures we see only in dreams. They adorn themselves in colourful dresses and wigs and they take to the stage to sing and dance. They open their arms to those who are excluded — both men and women, triumphant and threatened, both free and bound — and every evening is a carnival of freedom and transgression.

With this masterful novel, Blais invites us to share the drama of perfect joy, the tragedy of happiness, and she gives us her best work yet.

With Augustino and the Choir of Destruction, literary legend Marie-Clair Blais concludes her famed trilogy set on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. Written in her trademark style, which includes surreal surprises and idiosyncratic characters, this book presents a rich tapestry of humankind: Our Lady of the Bags, announcing the end of the world; Charles, a great poet cut down by AIDS; and Caroline, a transvestite Cinderella and artist. Most amazing — yet typical of the imaginative power of Blais' work — is the title character, a clairvoyant child writer who challenges the destructive forces in everyday life.

Thunder and Light is the much-anticipated second book in Marie-Claire Blais's spectacular and ambitious trilogy chronicling the mood of our apocalyptic age. It is the sequel to These Festive Nights, winner of the Governor General's Award for French fiction; a novel Le Devoir called the Divine Comedy of our time.