The Electric Baths
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A surprise return home triggers a chain of events, their strands weaving together a sinister web of dreams and reality, truth and lies, secrets and spells.
Following in the tradition of Fortier’s absurdist first novel, The Unknown Huntsman, this is a dark and offbeat tale about lost love, lost dreams, and one lost limb.
“Through its fine translation by Katherine Hastings, The Electric Baths’s exquisite language and wry omniscience result in a dark, delightful landscape of curious happenings.” (★★★★★, Foreword Reviews)
“The citizens of this community are dealing with an uncanny series of events and emotions that are puzzling and in many cases hard to define. […] unique.” (Steven Buechler, The Library of Pacific Tranquility)
“Fortier (The Unknown Huntsman) threads reality with dreams in this enchanting tale about a small unnamed village full eccentric characters and secrets […] slim and wispy with curious characters and effortless prose.” (Publishers Weekly)
“The Electric Baths is a clever book where we’re only really sure what’s happening when it’s finally over […] a fun, enjoyable read” (Tony Malone, Tony’s Reading List)
“It would be remiss not to mention Fortier’s style, his originality, his colourfulness. His influences? I could go in a few different directions: Fred Pellerin, Michel Tremblay, Jacques Ferron… all of them good! It makes you want to go back and read his first novel, and to hope there’s another on its way.” (Martin Prévost, pieuvre.ca)
“The latest, second novel by Jean-Michel Fortier was highly anticipated for good reason: with The Unknown Huntsman, its predecessor, Fortier created a world all his own, a world composed of mystery and intrigue in a far-flung, unnamed village, scrambling all our points of reference and using subtle, sardonic humour to take great delight in fiddling with language and narrative techniques.” (Jean-Sébastien Doré, Impact Campus)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fortier (The Unknown Huntsman) threads reality with dreams in this enchanting tale about a small unnamed village full eccentric characters and secrets. When Louise Beurre mysteriously returns home after having run off with a circus to Paris 13 years earlier, she drops right back into the claustrophobic village life of the gossips, widows, and neighbors she originally hoped to escape. There is Bella, a widow who places ads in newspapers for potential rich new husbands; Ren e, who works at a grand manor house and checks on its unused hydrotherapeutic electric baths every night; a forest witch who points her curses in everyone's directions; and Old Mr. Roux, the village's gossipmonger who routinely turns up to deliver snippets of juicy news whether it's wanted or not. The book is not placed in a specific time, and though not much happens, bits of recognizable potpourri like the Fant mas silent film or the early-20th-century card game belote give the setting an air of the late Belle poque. Fortier's tale is slim and wispy with curious characters and effortless prose, yet like a dream, a few pieces are still missing.
