Main Brides

Description

It is a hot June day. A woman sits in a bar in Montreal's Main, waiting. Pushing down the disturbing scene (the police, a blanket) she saw that morning in the park. To focus herself, she tries to guess the stories of other women who come and go as the day darkens into night: the teenager Nanette; Adele of Halifax, who's constantly on a train; a woman just back from Cuba; two lesbian lovers (one's a "cowgirl"); Z., a performance artist; Norma jean from Toronto; the taunting radio voice of a woman promising a tango. Between the portraits, the woman watches and drinks and spins a setting for her "brides." The question is, why does she keep deferring going home?

Gail Scott Gail Scott's fiction and criticism have appeared in several journals. She is the author of two novels: Main Brides (1993) and Heroine (1987); Spare Parts, a collection of short stories; and Spaces Like Stairs, a collection of essays. Most recently, she translated Lise Tremblay's Mile End (La danse juive, Lemeac, 1999). She lives in Montreal.

"Gail Scott has an extraordinary ability to compress scenic observations ... into short, jewel-like notations." -- Hugh Hood "Scott is one of the most gutsy writers around." -- Globe & Mail