{"product_id":"a-convergence-of-solitudes-9781771667449","title":"A Convergence of Solitudes","description":"\u003cp\u003eA story of identity, connection and forgiveness, \u003ci\u003eA Convergence of Solitudes\u003c\/i\u003e shares the lives of two families across Partition of India, Operation Babylift in Vietnam, and two referendums in Quebec.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSunil and Hima, teenage lovers, bravely defy taboos in pre-Partition India to come together as their country divides in two. They move across the world to Montreal and raise a family, but Sunil shows symptoms of schizophrenia, shattering their newfound peace. As a teenager, their daughter Rani becomes obsessed with Quebecois supergroup Sensibilité--and, in particular, the band's charismatic, nationalistic frontman, Serge Giglio--whose music connects Rani to the province's struggle for cultural freedom. A chance encounter leads Rani to babysit Mélanie, Serge's adopted daughter from Vietnam, bringing her fleetingly within his inner circle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYears later, Rani, now a college guidance counselor, discovers that Mélanie has booked an appointment to discuss her future at the school. Unmoved by her father's staunch patriotism and her British mother's bourgeois ways, Mélanie is struggling with deep uncertainty about her identity and belonging. As the two women's lives become more and more intertwined, Rani's fascination with Mélanie's father's music becomes a strange shadow amidst their friendship.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eANITA ANAND \u003c\/b\u003eis an author, translator, and language teacher from Montreal. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eSwing in the House and Other Stories\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the 2015 Concordia University First Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2016 Relit Award for Fiction and the Montreal Literary Diversity Prize. Her novel, \u003ci\u003eA Convergence of Solitudes\u003c\/i\u003e, was nominated for the 2022 Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and the 2023 Forest of Reading Evergreen Award. Her previous translations include \u003ci\u003eNirliit\u003c\/i\u003e by Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, which was nominated for the 2018 John Glassco Prize, and \u003ci\u003eLightness \u003c\/i\u003e by Fanie Demeule.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Book*hug Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50383240397074,"sku":"9781771667449","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_53fafd88-97a4-427c-9bd4-e3679fdf4a04.jpg?v=1728781453","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-convergence-of-solitudes-9781771667449","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}