Algoma

Poetry profoundly influences prose. Dani Couture’s background as a poet, and now a first time novelist, shines with finely tuned insights. She’s a line writer and builds on her sentences to form gorgeous paragraphs. Couture leaves readers with a gentle glimpse into the human condition. At the core of the novel, Algoma is a story of loss, love and family. It’s a domestic drama of the ties that bind and ultimately tether. Layered with tragedy, each character grieves in their own way after losing their son to the ice in a small town in Quebec's north. Algoma's husband Gaetan, who once diligently kept a daily weather journal, abandons his family. Each chapter begins with the time, weather and a daily poetic quip from his journal, almost a window or preview into the internal weather systems of the characters. They help frame scenes, illustrating the severe wind and cold and create emotional pauses.