Fences in Breathing review

Quebec writer Nicole Brossard's latest novel, Fences in Breathing (translated by Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood), confronts a subject favoured by a cadre of contemporary literary darlings, Roberto Bolaño, David Foster Wallace, and John Wray among them: namely, a profound distrust in the magic of fiction.

With over 30 books published, twice the recipient of the Governor General's Award for poetry, and the winner of the Canada Council's Molson Prize for a lifetime of achievement, Nicole Brossard's writing has always contested and played with the limits of structure, sound, language, and the search for meaning. Her recent work, Fences in Breathing, is no exception.