Fragments of Place

Qu%C3%A9becois author Aude, whose short story collection Cet Imperceptible Mouvement won a Canadian Governor General's award in 1997, offers what she predicts will be her final collection of short stories. In her foreword, Aude ruminates on the writing process, observing that the personal does not necessarily inform a work of fiction, but she also notes that she was diagnosed with incurable leukemia seven years ago, a diagnosis that clearly influenced the works in this collection. Presented as stories about "the madness of men... [which] had gone beyond all limits in its fanaticism, cupidity, barbarity, and indifference," these tales do not intersect but rather reflect on a universe where "the majority of humans tried to resist the best they could the madness of the all-powerful, pitiless minority." These short vignettes are at their best when they are brief snapshots, leaving the reader to imagine the repercussions of the events depicted. This collection is charmingly well-balanced; susurrations of fantasy are set against harsh reality, and there are stories of kindness and love to contrast the harsh suffering that Aude does not shy away from limning. She says in the foreword that she still has more stories she hopes to tell and perhaps publish individually in literary magazines, but if this is indeed her last collection, it will stand as a delightful parting gift from a highly skilled author. (May)