The Breakwater House

In a peaceful neighbourhood, two little girls are born five days apart. Lucie lives with her mother, Aurore, who struggles to make ends meet; Claire lives with her wealthy mother, Suzanne, who struggles to make her marriage work. The girls are inseparable. For 10 years, Aurore weaves a rich skein of tales for Lucie and Claire. Then, when the girls turn 15, Aurore tells the final tale in her tapestry, and disappears forever.

Several years later, Lucie gives birth to a little girl, Odyssee, and she and Claire take turns telling stories to the child. But one day something unspeakable happens. Into the terrible silence, a woman without a name wanders, trying to find the broken pieces of herself.

The Breakwater House is the story of the complex love between mothers, daughters, and friends. With this thrilling puzzle of a novel, Governor General's Literary Award winner and Giller Prize nominee Pascale Quiviger shows that she is a writer who is capable of combining stylistic brilliance, philosophical depth, and sheer un-put-downable storytelling.