The Break

Set in the North End of Winnipeg, Manitoba, The Break is a heartbreaking and gritty multi-generational story of a Metis family, told through different perspectives that originate in and around the sexual assault of young teenage girl. The voices we hear are mostly women, because it's the women that hold the family structures together, they are the ones that stay. There's crime, drug addiction, lost loved ones, gang violence, and a lot of trauma and hurt handed down from generation to generation.

This book succeeded on so many levels for me. It has the literary fiction appeal, the feminist angle, and all the while also kept me hooked with the plot. Some of the scenes really shook me. Little broken Emily sneaking home without telling anyone, Rain transforming Stella's bedtime fairy-tales so that the princess wouldn't need a prince, Jake fighting tears without being able to open up to his mom.

Rounded up.