Milk Fever
In 1789, Armande, a wet nurse known for the mystical qualities of her breast milk, goes missing from her mountain village.
Céleste, a cunning servant girl who Armande once saved from shame and starvation, sets out to find her. A snuffbox found in the snow, the unexpected arrival of a gentleman and the discovery of the wet nurse’s diary, deepen the mystery. Using Armande’s diary as a map to her secret past, Céleste fights to save her from those plotting to steal the wisdom of her milk.
Milk Fever is a rich and inspired tale set on the eve of the French Revolution—a delicious peek into this age’s history. The story explores the fight for women’s rights and the rise in clandestine literature laying bare sexuality, the nature of love and the magic of books to transform lives.
Lissa M. Cowan's book is proudly published by Demeter Press, an independent feminist press committed to publishing peer-reviewed scholarly work, fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction on mothering, reproduction, sexuality and family.
“While set in the 18th century, Milk Fever raises questions relevant today.”
—Understorey Magazine
“Poetry and magic realism pervade the text, but,
for me, the earthly portrayal of mothering
and its significance to society was the heart of the book.”
—Historical Novel Society
“Cowan's debut novel invokes powerful metaphors about devouring ideas, reading people, and cherishing books as if they were human....”
—Publisher’s Weekly
Milk Fever is a sensuous and subversive novel, set at a time when printed books were beginning to change the world.”
—Kathy Page, British-Canadian writer and author of Giller-nominated Paradise & Elsewhere
“Anything can happen in these pages: revolution, love, mysticism, even betrayal.”
—Jen Sookfong Lee, Canadian broadcaster & novelist
Words That Walk in the Night
A literary translation published by Vehicule Press, Montreal.
Morency's subtlety of language gives us a heightened sense of every day that tells us something about our humanity. By focusing on the reality of familiar things, he reveals how we are constantly reborn differently. In every word and every phrase, nature is present in Words that Walk in the Night--even in the city.
But Morency's poetry is never a restricted view of "city" or "nature." He shows us that just as we can inhabit a landscape, we can also inhabit poetry. Words that Walk in the Night is a translation of Les Paroles qui marchent dans la nuit, published by éditions du Boréale [1994].
Pierre Morency is a Quebec writer, poet, and playwright. He is one of Quebec's most honoured writers. He is an officer of the Order of Canada and a knight of the National Order of Quebec. In 1993 France made him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
"Morency's tone has evolved, from the poems of his late twenties, towards a form of stylistic and emotional asceticism. What is remarkable, however, is that the author is always there, often appearing at the last minute with stunning efficacy."
—Edmond-Louis Dussault, Books in Canada