The Sumida River, the Tsukiji fish market, a stuffed bear head. A Montrealer in mourning returns to Tokyo, where he is haunted by the ghost of his dead lover. But when a turbulent new love enters his life will it be enough to put him on sure footing or will he forever be on shaky ground?

Vincent Brault's profile page

Benjamin Hedley's profile page

Vincent Brault was born in Montreal in 1978. He is the author of three novels: Le cadavre de Kowalski (2015), which was a finalist for the Prix des Rendez-vous du premier roman first novel award, La chair de Clémentine (2017), and Le fantôme de Suzuko (2021). The Ghost of Suzuko (Le fantôme de Suzuko) is his first novel to be translated into English.

Benjamin Hedley is a translator and bookseller from Montreal, Quebec. He has a B.A. from Concordia University in translation studies and has worked previously with QC Fiction on the short story collection I Never Talk About It. The Ghost of Suzuko is his first full-length translation.

"Expertly translated by Benjamin Hedley ... The Ghost of Suzuko blends magical realism and Japanese mysticism?a genre that depicts, with affection, Japan's abundant culture of spirituality and the occult. The setting is modern, rife with dazzling technology and infrastructure'specialized 'love hotels,' a convenient labyrinth of subways that usher characters from scene to scene?but the story's supernatural elements descend from centuries of legend and tradition." E.R. Zarevich, Mangoprism

"a QC Fiction book that demonstrates the style of book that sets QC Fiction out from the crowd" James Fisher, The Miramichi Reader

"a fascinating story" - Tony Malone, Tony's Reading List

"A superb novel on absence and losing one's bearings, as well as an ode to passion and desire, this third book by Vincent Brault is a literary project like few others in Quebec . . . the borders between dreams and reality are ambiguous to say the least." (Gabriel Guérin, Les Libraires magazine

"a story as enchanting as it is exotic . . . The syncopated style lends the story a poetic dimension as the author shifts effortlessly from the dreamlike to the fantastic." (Manon Dumais, Le Devoir)

"The back and forth between past and present weaves an effective narrative where love and grief intertwine with exquisite languor . . . A short, touching novel." (Julie Roy, L'Actualité)

"A hypnotising novel . . . Journey to the frontiers of the real and the supernatural, between Montreal and Japan." (Marie-Lise Rousseau, Métro)