In the stifling heat of summer in a northern Canadian mining town, Marie, a young teacher, is fascinated by her new friend Corrine, a waitress who is determined to squeeze every drop of experience and sensation from life.

As summer ends, Marie marries an immigrant from Eastern Europe. She has chosen Ervant because she senses -- or hopes -- that despair will not defeat him as it has the men who spent their lives working for the mine.

This is the first volume in the False Pretenses trilogy, which is continued in Affairs of Art and An Appropriate Place.

Lise Bissonnette was for many years the publisher of the highly influential Montreal newspaper Le Devoir, and the the chief executive officer of La Grande Bibliotheque du Quebec. Her novels and short fiction have been published to great acclaim in Quebec and English Canada, Following the Summer having been nominated for the Governor General's Award for translation. Lise Bissonnette lives in Montreal.

Lise Bissonnette's profile page

• Winner, Governor General's Award: Translation