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Arrhythmia (novel)

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Arrhythmia
AuthorAlice Zorn
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherNeWest Press
Publication date
May 1, 2011
Publication placeCanada
Media typePrint (hardcover & paperback)
Pages315
ISBN978-1-897126-80-6

Arrhythmia is the first novel by Canadian author Alice Zorn. It was published on May 1, 2011 by NeWest Press.[1]

Characters

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  • Joelle - A protagonist of the novel. She is married to Marc and watches her marriage fall apart. She works as a secretary at the hospital.
  • Marc - Joelle's husband, who also works at the hospital, and becomes obsessed with Ketia. They have secret rendezvous without Joelle knowing.
  • Ketia - A nurse who works at the hospital who begins a liaison with Marc. She has two younger siblings and lives with her mother.
  • Diane - Joelle's best friend who is in a relationship with Nazim. She loves crossword puzzles and can do them very quickly.
  • Nazim - Diane's live-in boyfriend who is Muslim. Nazim had never told his family about Diane, and he receives a letter from his sister Ghada saying that she will be coming to visit him in Canada.
  • Gabrielle - Ketia's younger sister.
  • Bastien - Ketia's younger brother.
  • "Ma" - Ketia's mother.
  • Frank - A doctor whom Joelle works with at the hospital.
  • Emile - A former abusive boyfriend of Joelle who arrives at the hospital with a serious illness.
  • Ghada - Nazim's sister who is educated, unlike the remaining members of their family.

Reception

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Claire Holden Rothman, in the Montreal Review of Books, said it was, "an ambitious, deftly handled exploration of human beings in love."[2] Juliet Waters, of Montreal Mirror, said, "Alice Zorn is another writer to watch these days. Her lucidly written first novel Arrhythmia is the follow-up to her promising short story collection Ruins & Relics and explores the lives of urban Montrealers struggling with various aspects of betrayal."[3] Beverly Akerman, writing for The Winnipeg Review, called the novel, "an impressively old-fashioned novel based on the ancient and captivating geometry of the triangle."[4] Natalie Samson, in Quill & Quire, said that "the effect here is of a jumble of voices, none of which feels particularly well fleshed-out or authentic".[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Zorn, Alice - NeWest Press". Newest Press.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  2. ^ Claire Holden Rothman. "Arrhythmia, Alice Zorn". The Montreal Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  3. ^ Waters, Juliet. "Ruins & Relics by Alice Zorn". Montreal Mirror. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  4. ^ Akerman, Beverly (December 20, 2011). "'Arrhythmia' by Alice Zorn". The Winnipeg Review. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
  5. ^ Samson, Natalie (June 2011). "Review of Arrhythmia by Alice Zorn". Quill & Quire. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
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