May Our Joy Endure

Praise for May Our Joy Endure"Award-winning Canadian novelist Lambert weaves a hypnotic narrative, smoothly translated from French by Winkler, about greed and inequality, hypocrisy, and, not least, a 'dangerous notion of purity' . . . An astute critique of entrenched power."—Kirkus Reviews' (starred review)"Baroque and philosophical, May Our Joy Endure captures the sensibilities and excesses of the elite. A novel about the housing crisis told from the perspective of those causing it. Lambert captures how the ultra-wealthy justify their actions and sing their own praises while the population is crushed beneath their eloquent tapestry of lies. Lambert’s writing is lyrical and rapturous. In this book, he proves himself a satirical and whimsical Robespierre, hailing from small town Quebec."—Heather O’Neill, author of When We Lost Our Heads"An icy, cerebral social novel that unfurls during the pandemic as the housing crisis in Montreal tips into catastrophe . . . Equal parts Proust, Woolf, and Gossip Girl, the novel’s intimate perspective roves between Céline and her employees, confidantes, and antagonists like a canny eavesdropper at a party, showcasing Lambert’s gimlet eye for the delusions and designer preferences of the one percent."—Michelle Cyca, The Walrus"Like his previous works, including Querelle of Roberval, Kevin Lambert’s new novel has garnered acclaim and won multiple awards in the original French. A philosophical critique of the ultra-privileged, it tells of a famous architect who returns to her hometown and creates a furor with a widely condemned Montreal megaproject."—Attila Berki, Quill & Quire"[A] translation . . . that masterfully captures the quality of the original text. As a reminder, May Our Joy Endure brilliantly explores and satirizes the world of the ultra-rich, the galloping gentrification of neighborhoods, and the incestuous and parasitic links between political and economic circles."—Benoit Migneault, Fugues"Supremely cunning . . . Between the cracks of its shifting perspective, the book’s darkness seeps through and creates a narrative landslide: the powerful, come what may, will remain in their ivory towers, untouchable. A novel that turns asphyxiation into a reader’s delight, as long as we are willing to take the plunge."—Juliette Einhorn, Le Monde (Paris)"It's a very Proustian novel set in the age of reality TV. It's a chilling portrait of our discourse around social justice today, and it points out that, sooner or later, we might find ourselves on the wrong side of it."—Élisabeth Philippe, L'obs (Paris)"Kevin Lambert . . . give[s] us a pointillist painting of the ultra-rich and their world, even if they are rich and powerful, they are nonetheless human beings, with complexities, paradoxes, and contradictions, in which they pickle as if in their own brine."—Laurence Houot, France Télévision (Paris)