To the Forest

Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette

Summary

CBC BOOKS WORKS OF CANADIAN FICTION TO READ IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2023 
49th SHELF EDITORS' PICK FOR JUNE 2023 
When a family is forced to return to the mother’s childhood home, she seeks meaning in her ancestral roots and the violent beauty of the natural world. 
Fleeing the city at the beginning of the pandemic, two families are cramped together in a small century-old country house. Winter seeps through the walls, the wallpaper is peeling, and mice make their nest in the piano. Without phones or internet, they turn to the outdoors, where a new language unfolds, a language of fireflies and clover. The five children explore nature and its treasures, while our narrator, Anaïs, turns to the eccentric neighbours and her own family history to find peace and meaning in the middle of her life. 
To the Forest is a field guide to a quieter life, a call to return to the places where we can reweave the threads of memory, where existence waltzes with death, where we can recapture what it means to be alive.

Available since: 06/20/2023.

Print length: 192 pages.

Contemporary Fiction

Other books that might interest you

In the Black Dream

Victoria Sterling

Description：
Iris Ainsley has spent her whole life losing to her twin.

Juliet is the gifted one — beautiful, celebrated, adored by everyone who meets her, including their own parents. Iris is the one who studies until her hair falls out and still finishes second. And Juliet means to keep it that way. Every prize Iris earns, Juliet steals. Every person Iris loves, Juliet takes. When Iris finally fights for a future of her own, the cost is a shattered leg and a stolen life.

But Juliet has one fatal blind spot. She can only steal what already exists — and Iris isn't finished writing yet.

A chilling story of two sisters, a rewritten fate, and the terrible patience of a girl who refuses to lose. Some people are born to shine. Others are forged in the dark.

Show book

The Unwanted Daughter

Elara Frost

Description：
They never loved her. They never even looked for her.

Peach was the unwanted daughter—born after her twin brother didn't survive. Her family made sure she knew it. Every day. Every choice.

When her sister marries the man Peach loved, no one expects her to show up. But when she doesn't, they're not worried. They're angry. Her mother curses her. Her brother calls her selfish. Her father disowns her.

They don't know that Peach is already dead.

Murdered the night before the wedding. Her body buried where no one would look.

Now, as a ghost bound to the family that never wanted her, Peach watches them eat, argue, and move on. Until grief and guilt begin to tear them apart from the inside.

A haunting, heartbreaking story about the daughter no one loved—and what happens when it's too late to try.

Show book

Cloud Watcher

Lilith Saintcrow

Anya Harris's unwanted talents have made her a refugee, flying from city to city ahead of a tide of burning terror nobody else can see. She's hoping Santiago City will be different, but deep in her heart of hearts, she knows nowhere is safe enough for someone with her secrets. When the gray-eyed man with guns and a sword shows up, claiming to be sent to protect her, Anya has to believe him. After all, she has nowhere else to go.
Jack Gray is one of the oldest Watchers around, scarred by the battle between Circle Lightfall and the Crusade. He's found his witch, and nothing is going to get in the way of protecting her. But being a Watcher is never as simple as it looks. Anya's talent makes her worth millions, if she's delivered alive to the right corporate bidders. Jack's the only one who can save her. But when she finds out who he really is, he might lose her for good . . .

Show book

A Day Like Any Other

Guy Ware

A woman with a successful career in child protection is floored by her husband's sudden death; a retired civil servant smothers his wife, but can't go through with their pact; a teacher fleeing a disastrous school trip finds himself – literally – in a dark wood.
Pascal famously said we shall die alone. But there are always others left behind to grieve, to cheer, to feel guilt, relief or laughter, because we are human, whether we like it or not. In these stories, a dozen characters find at least a dozen ways to live by facing death – their own or that of those they love – in familiar worlds shot through with a strange absurdity.
A man with cancer is employed to smoke by a character from a novel who may never have existed; an historian finds a love he hopes will last beyond the grave, even if it isn't his; a former judge dispenses justice in a prison camp; a randomly-selected Prime Minister confronts the biggest life-or-death decision she – or anyone – will ever have to take.
A Day Like Any Other explores death – natural, assisted, promised and unexpected – with compassion, wit, a steady gaze and a desire to confront the challenge we mostly prefer to avoid: why live at all? It is the perfect collection for anyone who's going to die one day.

Show book

Burn the Spring Away

Victoria Sterling

Description：
Everyone believes Robin Maddox is fragile — a soft-spoken survivor of a brutal childhood, saved by the powerful man who adores her.

When the girl who once tormented Robin walks free, Robin's fiancé Adrian Kane swears vengeance on her behalf. But vengeance curdles. Adrian's certainty wavers, the bully whispers poison, and soon Robin finds herself the one accused of lying, locked away while her tormentor takes her place.

Adrian thinks he's holding all the power. He has no idea the quiet, trembling woman in his house has been three moves ahead of him from the day they met — and that every tear, every flinch, every plea is a weight on a scale she alone controls.

A glacial, jaw-dropping psychological revenge novel about a woman the world underestimated, and the terrible patience of someone with nothing left to lose.

Show book

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf

One of the most influential works of modern literature, exploring creativity, independence, and the power of women's voices.

Discover "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf, the groundbreaking literary essay that has inspired generations of readers, writers, and thinkers. Blending elegant prose with profound insight, this timeless classic examines the relationship between creativity, education, financial independence, and artistic expression, making it one of the defining works of twentieth-century literature.

Based on a series of lectures delivered at women's colleges, A Room of One's Own explores the historical barriers that limited women's opportunities in literature and the arts. Through thoughtful reflection, vivid imagination, and memorable examples, Virginia Woolf considers the conditions necessary for creative achievement while examining themes of education, equality, intellectual freedom, identity, and the enduring importance of independent thought. Her ideas continue to spark meaningful conversations about literature, culture, and society around the world.

First published in 1929, "A Room of One's Own" is regarded as a landmark of literary criticism and feminist thought. Its influence extends across literature, history, education, gender studies, and cultural criticism, ensuring its place among the most important nonfiction classics of the modern era.

Perfect for readers interested in classic literature, literary criticism, women's history, feminist philosophy, cultural studies, education, and timeless nonfiction, this remarkable work offers an engaging and thought-provoking reading experience.

Experience one of the most important literary essays ever written. Add "A Room of One's Own" to your Kindle library today and discover a timeless classic that continues to inspire creativity, independence, and intellectual freedom.

Show book