Riverwork explores a lost family legacy, French literature, and a buried river
Lisa Robertson's new novel, Riverwork, follows Lucy Frost, a house-cleaner in Paris who inherits her great-aunt's journal. Through this inheritance, Lucy explores her family's lost legacy and the broader experiences of working-class women. The novel intertwines themes of history, literature, and the impact of economic circumstances on personal aspirations.
- ▪Lucy Frost inherits her great-aunt Em's journal, which reveals insights into their family's past.
- ▪The novel examines the labor of women, particularly working-class women, often overlooked in history.
- ▪Robertson's writing connects themes of gender, class, and the intellectual pursuits of women.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Open this photo in gallery:Author Lisa Robertson’s writing engages in a shrewd, at times caustic, examination of history and culture.Jean-Philippe Antoine/SuppliedShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free AccountThe past is alive with lessons if you are able to hear them, whether as voices of those who came before or treasures that hint at a life that could have been. In Riverwork (Coach House Books) – a new novel by Canadian writer and translator Lisa Robertson – a woman opens herself to such possibilities courtesy of an unconventional inheritance. Robertson’s protagonist, Lucy Frost, is a woman working as a house-cleaner in Paris.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Globe and Mail.
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