The Country Will Bring Us No Peace
Matthieu Simard
Translated from the French by Pablo Strauss
‘An eerie meditation on the shattering power of grief and the painful search for any kind of redemption.’
– Will Maclean, author of The Apparition Phase
‘A horror story with the horror drained out. What remains is the insoluble wreckage of the grief left behind. It is beautiful and deeply moving.’
– Jac Jemc, author of The Grip of It
'A fearless look at what grief does to the world, to marriage, to your mind. I loved it.'
– Jenn Ashworth, author of Ghosted
Simon and Marie can't seem to have a baby. They decide to flee the city for an idyllic village, where things, they tell themselves, must be better. But their new home is gloomy, threatening, tinged with tragedy – things have not been the same since the factory closed down and the broadcast antenna was erected. In the trees, no birds are singing, and people have started disappearing…
The Country Will Bring Us No Peace is celebrated Québécois author Matthieu Simard’s first work to be translated into English and published in the UK; a strange and poignant novella exploring grief and its aftermath.
Praise for The Country Will Bring Us No Peace
‘Rigorous, quietly wrenching, uncannily poetic from start to finish.'
– Sue Rainsford, author of Follow Me to Ground
'Superbly controlled and imaginatively translated.'
– Irish Times
‘If you like strange, mediative and eerie books which are tricky to classify, this beautifully bleak novella is hard to beat… an emotional tale with a punch.’
– Horror DNA
'Oblique and concise writing generates a constant hum of diffuse dread, a kind of psychic noise floor submerging all but the most powerful pulses of emotion.'
– Ginger Nuts of Horror
‘An outstanding book that will resonate with lovers of great storytelling as well as with those who enjoy work happening in the interstitial space between literary fiction and psychological horror.’
– Vol. 1 Brooklyn
'With an ending that is an absolute shocker, this novel is everything today’s Literature has to be and is often lost in commercial choices where quality is compromised. It is a revelation, a dark jewel. A haunting presence.'
– The Opinionated Reader
'Simard wrote one of those books that perfectly suits itself: all of the elements, the prose, the characters, style, the structure, and the gambits work for the feelings and experience it aims to express, right through to the beautiful and haunting ending.'
– Montreal Review of Books
'A novel about silence, tinged with the fantastic, The Country Will Bring Us No Peace sneaks the brutality of grief into your imagination.'
– Hamilton Review of Books
About the Author
Matthieu Simard, who has been called ‘one of the most promising authors of his generation’ by La Presse, has published eight novels including Ça sent la coupe, which was made into a feature film in 2017. His work has been shortlisted for the Archambault Literary Grand Prix, Prix France-Québec, and Governor General’s Literary Award. He lives in Montreal.
About the translator
Pablo Strauss has translated many works of fiction from Quebec including The Dishwasher, The Supreme Orchestra, The Longest Year, and Atavisms. He lives in Quebec City.
Paperback ISBN: 9781910312834
Ebook ISBN: 9781910312841
Publication date: September 2021
Formats: Paperback / eBook