Bridge Retakes, the debut novel by Angela Lopes, is a whirlwind millennial tale of love and family and the distances that people will (or won’t) go to secure what they want.
A Bahian man and a Brazilian-Canadian woman meet on an online dating site. They come from very different worlds—geographically, economically, religiously—and yet, their connection is undeniable. When these long-distance lovers run up against their own belief systems and those of their families and communities, it’s their desire to build a life anew that keeps them moving forward. But all the while, issues of money, class, gender, and corruption threaten to tear them apart.
Praise for Bridge Retakes:
“This is the story of Phila + Ze, of Canada + Brazil. And like all great love stories it charts the emotions around desire, all its sweats and confusions. And it does this beautifully. What Phila + Ze = is the plot of this book. And as such, what Bridge Retakes adds to these stories and what makes it distinctive is how these sweats and confusions are shaped by more complicated forces, such as national borders and economic inequalities.”
—Juliana Spahr, author of The Transformation
Press Coverage for Bridge Retakes:
“Open-hearted after the fashion of much work in the New Narrative vein, refusing any easy distinction between poetry and prose, living and writing, thought and feeling, Bridge Retakes is an adrenalized experiment thoroughly worth the time of any feeling reader.” —Cam Scott, Prairie Fire
Love, sex and real estate: Diving into sexy summer reads —Sue Carter, Metro News
12 or 20 (second series) Questions with Angela Lopes —rob mclennan’s blog
Compact books that punch above their size —Sarah Murdoch, Toronto Star
Stories and Leafblowers: Background to Passion —Buried in Print
Angela Lopes : my (small press) writing day —rob mclennan’s blog
Winnipeg-based Angela Lopes is a writer, and editor, and academic tutor of writing and philosophy. She divides her time between São Paulo, Brazil and Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she is an active member in the arts scene and recently worked with the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Creative Placemaking Challenge—an art installation project displayed in the alleys of the city’s West Exchange District. Lopes’s essays and poems have appeared in an array of publications. Bridge Retakes is her first novel.