Winter Child

Finished August 6
Winter Child by Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, translated by Susan Ouriou and Christelle Morelli

This poetic novel takes us through the life of a man from his birth, all from the viewpoint of his mother. His was a difficult birth, and he nearly died. Again and again over the years, many events come close to ending his life, but manages to survive.
His mother has felt from the first that he would be her weakness, her worry, the one she had to always watch out for. Not that he has lived his life that way. He has taken many risks, and laughed at the dangers, but for her it is a lifetime of waiting for what she knows is coming for him. We see how they change over time and he gets older and more independent, living a life away from her.
The memories of the man's life and the mother's own life are told sometimes from her, and sometimes as if watching it from outside. They don't come in order, but are jumbled and come at random, one from the present, one from years before.
The language here is wonderful, evocative of the emotions of the characters. I always love novels written by poets as the writing always flows so nicely, and the descriptions make things come to life.