Not Even the Sound of a River by Hélène Dorion, translated by Jonathan Kaplansky

Not Even the Sound of a River is a profound and moving tale of love’s phantom pains as shared through the relationships between three generations of mothers and daughters.

Hanna drives down the St. Lawrence River to her late mother’s hometown, hoping to find out more about the distant woman who began to reveal herself only through notebooks discovered in her effects. As the river widens, so does Hanna’s understanding of the matriarchs in her family. She learns that her mother’s true love, Antoine, died on the river at twenty, and that her grandmother also lost a young love to the water. Both remained shipwrecked after tragedy, their tales mirroring other survivors’—such as the few who survived the Empress of Ireland sinking, when more than 1000 people lost their lives on the same river in 1914.

Through multiple perspectives, newspaper accounts, and documents, Dorion exquisitely describes the depths of love, the reality of living when dreams have failed us, and the complex nuance of blood ties. Not Even the Sound of a River is a gentle, exquisite story that defies time or place.

Praise for Not Even the Sound of a River

“A gentle tribute to the power of art, and a call to life.” —La Presse

“Not Even the Sound of a River celebrates the beauty of what has remained mysterious in others, and is revealed one day, as a result of time and chance.” —Le Devoir