A Family Affair

InA Family Affair, love is the first casualty and deceit towards others, towards oneself the norm.

Kitchen designer Magalie is being cheated on and so cheats in turn, in the office and with a divorced policeman who has hired her. Her partner, Mathieu, has no idea how to be, and the policeman Guillaumehas no idea what he wants. So begins a story of messy relationships wrested against the odds from the detritus of failed marriages, the demands of professional lives, and the pull of the Internet and its false messages of perfection.

With an assiduous eye that is both clinical and sympathetic, Bismuth's elegant and highly readable novel captures the alienating nature of contemporary life and sheds light on this, our strange new world full of unrequited yearning in a sea of seeming plenty. (From House of Anansi Press)

The French edition,Un lien familial,won Radio-Canada'sCombatnational des livresin 2020.

Nadine Bismuthis a writer from Montreal. She has published novels and short story collections. Her 2004 novelScrapbookwas translated into English in 2009. Her2009 short story collectiontes-vous marie un psychopathewas shortlisted for the Govenor General's Literary Award for French-language fiction and was translated into English in 2010.

Russell Smith is a writer, journalist and translator. His books include the novels Confidence and Girl Crazy and the memoir Blindsided.A Family Affair, is his first book-length translation.

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