Seven Lakes Further North is the story of Michel, a quarter-blood Native who sets out on a long trip to the great forest for a strange meeting with an Indian who’s taken refuge there following the Oka standoff. The story runs through a land of lakes and forests, from Oka to the Abitibi, to the source of the Ottawa River, as Michel rediscovers his mother, voices from his childhood, memories of fishing trips and his dead father’s torn landscapes. A postcolonial novel of consensus, Seven Lakes Further North reconciles clashing polarities, while painting the Canadian landscape in dreamlike detail. In Seven Lakes Further North, Lalonde plumbs the memories of a childhood he spent in Oka living next to an Indian reservation—childhood marked by conflict between two nations, two nations he loves with equal passion. In exploring the memories of his childhood, he weaves a compelling narrative about building bridges between clashing worlds.

Robert Lalonde’s international reputation continues to grow. His unusual prose style, his preoccupation with cultural and political issues here at home, and his essays on literary works from many countries make him an astute commentator on world events today. This novel, a sequel to Le Dernier été des Indiens (1982) is a strong voice for reconciliation and healing in a post-Oka/ Kanehsatake world.
Marie Vautier,
Comparative Canadian/Québécois literature, University of Victoria

An actor, playwright and translator, Robert Lalonde is one of Quebec’s leading novelists. Seven Lakes Further North was a finalist for the 1993 Governor General’s Award for French fiction. His previous novels published in translation by Ekstasis Editions include The Ogre of Grand Remous, The Devil Incarnate, One Beautiful Day to Come and The Whole Wide World.