Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Polar Vortex
    Unavailable
    Polar Vortex
    Unavailable
    Polar Vortex
    Ebook289 pages5 hours

    Polar Vortex

    By Shani Mootoo

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    A novel reminiscent of the works of Herman Koch and Rachel Cusk, in which a lesbian couple attempts to escape the secrets of their pasts.

    Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize!
    A Globe & Mail Best Book of 2020
    One of Autostraddle's Best Queer Books of 2020
    Shortlisted for the 2020 Caribbean Readers’ Awards (Best Adult Novel)!

    "Shani Mootoo is one of the towering lesbian novelists of our time…Polar Vortex [is] a jewel in an already extraordinary creative life. Mootoo’s powerful capacity capture of people and their inner vulnerabilities and longings in her novels make them compelling reads.”
    --Autostraddle

    “With grace and dexterity, Polar Vortex maps the interiority of middle age lesbians and the complex and fraught intimate dances of couples...Here is a writer at the full height of her power asking vital, important questions rendered beautifully through character, setting, and plot. Here is a writer demonstrating with passion and power the importance of art to understanding the world. What pleasure!”
    --Lambda Literary

    "The action is dramatic, but it could only be surprising to someone who hasn’t noticed the accumulation of clues. There is violence and betrayal, but the characters are so sympathetically drawn that no one emerges as a villain or a stereotype...The structuring of the plot as a series of scenes gives this novel a steady momentum. Polar Vortex is a cautionary tale for adults."
    --The Gay & Lesbian Review

    ”A lesbian couple, together six years, move from Toronto to a home in an isolated island community. Priya is an artist, from an Indian family in the West Indies, Alex a writer and native Canadian. But there’s a third presence, Prakash, a Ugandan Indian whose family fled Amin and settled in Canada, who Priya met at university. Priya had turned him down as a suitor years ago, but now he has found her new location, and Priya has invited him for a weekend. Alex seems unduly displeased, but as the story unfolds through Priya’s voice, the balance tips. Priya’s story is more complex than she has shared with Alex; Prakash may have darker intentions for his visit, while Alex herself has secrets of her own.”
    --Lavender Magazine

    "A suspenseful story of desire, secrets, and an unexpected love triangle.”
    --Trinidad & Tobago Express

    “The story is tense and on every page tension rises. Yet even while sitting on the edge of my chair, I could not stop reading. In fact, I am still thinking about what I read a week later. Mootoo mixes two genres--psychological thriller and literary fiction--as she delves into the nature of queer sexuality and identity, immigrant experiences and the results of sexism, racism, and homophobia on LGBT women of color.”
    --Reviews by Amos Lassen

    Polar Vortex is a seductive and tension-filled novel about Priya and Alex, a lesbian couple who left the big city to relocate to a bucolic countryside community. It seemed like a good way to leave their past behind and cement their newish, later-in-life relationship. But there's leaving the past behind--and then there's running away from awkward histories.

    Priya has a secret--a long-standing, on-again, off-again relationship with a man, Prakash. In Priya's mind Prakash is little more than an old friend, but in reality things are a bit complicated. Why has she never told Alex about him? Prakash has tracked Priya down in her new life, and before she realizes what she's doing, she invites him to visit.

    Alex is not pleased, and soon the existing cracks in their relationship widen, revealing secrets Alex herself would have preferred to keep. Into the fissure walks Prakash, whose own agenda forces all three to face the inevitable consequences of their choices.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAkashic Books
    Release dateSep 1, 2020
    ISBN9781617758706
    Author

    Shani Mootoo

    SHANI MOOTOO is a novelist, poet, and visual artist. Her novels include Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab, long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and short-listed for a Lambda Literary Award; Valmiki's Daughter, long-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize; He Drown She in the Sea, long-listed for the Dublin IMPAC Award; and Cereus Blooms at Night, short-listed for several prizes including the Giller Prize, and long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. In 2020 Mootoo received an honorary doctorate of letters from Western University, Canada. She is also a recipient of the K.M. Hunter Artist Award for Literature, the Chalmers Arts Fellowship, and the Dr. James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize.

    Read more from Shani Mootoo

    Related to Polar Vortex

    Related ebooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Book Of The Month

      May 28, 2021

      ERICA GILLINGHAM is a queer poet, writer and bookseller with a PhD in lesbian love stories and kissing. @ericareadsqueer Isabel Waidner Isabel Waidner’s writing is electric. Kinetic, peripatetic, suspect, the reader knows as little about where they a

      1 min read

    • Article

      Akwaeke Emezi

      May 28, 2021

      Akwaeke Emezi
      6 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Manguso, Blake, Lavery, and More

      Feb 8, 2022

      Sarah Blake's latest post-apocalyptic novel, Mellors' satirical debut about a couple's impulsive marriage, and Lavery's speculative memoir are new this week The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Manguso, Blake, Lavery, and More appeared first on

      5 min read

    • Article

      Cherie Jones

      Jan 7, 2021

      Cherie Jones
      3 min read

    • Article

      Oceans

      Mar 15, 2019

      I used to be interested in mountains. They moved at a speed I could deal with. They waited for me to catch up. It was like that all my life. Then we moved to California, and after eight years of earthquakes I began to doubt my ability to put things i

      12 min read

    • Article

      The Future Is Podcast

      Sep 10, 2019

      The Future Is Podcast
      2 min read

    • Article

      Editor’s Letter

      Nov 26, 2021

      Editor’s Letter
      2 min read

    • Article

      Jason the Heat Guy

      Jan 11, 2021

      Jason the Heat Guy
      11 min read

    • Article

      After “The End”

      Oct 10, 2022

      I walked down the road with a hunched back and a wet cigarette in my mouth—the fire had died a while back. My hands were tucked into the pockets of my jacket, and my hair fell over my face, limiting my sight. But I wasn’t really seeing where I was go

      10 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      Night Light

      Oct 25, 2019

      Night Light
      3 min read

    • Article

      The White Fox

      Oct 13, 2017

      The White Fox
      10 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Duplex

      Jun 9, 2020

      I moved to Los Angeles to sing. When was this? August? June? I was twenty-nine, and those were shapeless months, when the days blended together and I refused to pull them apart. My landlord was unusually close to her adult son. His name was Jeffrey,

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Space Between Us

      Oct 9, 2019

      The Space Between Us
      8 min read

    • Article

      THE WALLS Have Eyes

      Aug 6, 2019

      THE WALLS Have Eyes
      4 min read

    • Article

      Pet Talk

      Feb 10, 2020

      Pet Talk
      2 min read

    • Article

      Pants On My pillow

      Oct 26, 2023

      Laying out the picnic blanket in the garden, I basked in the sunshine, taking in the blue, cloudless sky, the hum of bees. And the hunk in trunks sitting in a deckchair just a few feet away… It was June 2021 and Aleks, then 30, had recently rented a

      4 min read

    • Article

      Otterly Wonderful

      May 25, 2022

      Otterly Wonderful
      5 min read

    Reviews for Polar Vortex

    3.5/5

    33 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      At first it seemed strange that a complicated relationship was being portrayed from inside just one character's head, especially as it was unclear why the relationship was so fraught. Then Alex comes along to tell us her side, from inside her own head, and then finally Prakash literally arrives, and we learn what Priya has been withholding, and has also forgotten, about their university relationship. At the end, another surprise relationship. I loved the layering of perspective, the insights that come gradually. At the end the characters came alive for me, and I wanted more! What happened then? I wished I could ask.
    • 2/5
      I've been trying to read this for over three months. I pick it up and read a bit and set it aside. I'm half-way through it. It's a first person narrative by a woman in a same sex living relationship. She is musing about the expected visit by a male friend. Is he more than a friend? Perhaps a former lover? She teases us with the exact nature of that relationship. Frankly she goes on with this inner monologue too much and I keep losing interest in both her current and former relationships. Sometimes it's best to walk away from a relationship and that's just what I'm doing. I'm not investing any more time in this.
    • 5/5
      Pure queer, literary goodness. A roving, deep dive into memory with characters that all had understandable motivations for why they do what they do. They're realistic, flawed humans who make bad decisions. An ending that crept up on and gutted me--in retrospect, the signs were there, but I only felt certain what was about to happen a few pages before it happened. Overall, it was maybe a bit repetitive in places, but I wasn't bothered or impatient while reading.Also, considering everything that happens, the story and themes surrounding the story, the title is perfect. The cover design too.This was a strong introduction to Mootoo's work for me, and I've heard good things about her other books so I'm anticipating they'll be even better.
    • 4/5
      I got this book free from Library Thing's early reviewers program. I read it in an afternoon, but really liked it. It's a story about a lesbian couple living on a rather remote island, and one of them has an old (male) friend come to visit for a day. The book takes place all on the same day; the characters were great, plus I learned a lot about Idi Amin and what happened in Uganda in the 70's.
    • 4/5
      I'd like to read more by this author and will be keeping tabs. I am reading this along with a friend that also received a copy, we are not so far through it but we are both greatly engrossed
    • 2/5
      First person narrative, lots of angst-ridden inner dialogue, more like an overly drawn-out short story. Nothing surprising here for me, but might appeal to a younger reader of a background similar to the main character. Didn't feel a connection to or resonance with the characters or storyline, and didn't care for Prakash at all. Fairly graphic hetero sex throughout. **I received my ARC from the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      Coming from a heterosexual woman, I’m not sure my review would be considered legitimate by a homosexual woman! The writing is superb and the characters became very real. The story is heartbreaking on multiple levels; yet I’m left wondering if the emotional struggles these characters endured are universal or specific to these 3 individuals in this particular situation.
    • 4/5
      Polar vortex not only describes last winter’s weather event, but also the state of Priya’s closest relationships. Shani Mootoo exquisitely guides us through the thoughts, actions, and motives of Priya, her partner Alex, and Priya’s oldest friend Prakash. While the current events play out in a single day, we travel back forty years to understand beginnings and back stories, and learn not everyone remembers events the same way. This novel has a lot to say about memory and privacy, and what it means to come to terms with who you are. The barren Canadian setting does much to add to the mood and increasing tension building between the characters and what they will reveal.
    • 3/5
      Priya and Alexandra fled the city to live a simple rural life, and Priya took the opportunity to cut ties with most of her former life. Now her college friend Prakash is coming to visit and she's anxiously lost in the memories of their complicated relationship, which is creating trouble in her relationship with Alex.I found this incredibly stressful to read. All three characters behave poorly towards each other, deceiving themselves and projecting guilt and blame. It was a little too realistic.The writing is very good, which is probably the main reason it succeeded in stressing me out so much. Recommended if you want contemporary sadness.
    • 4/5
      Priya and her wife, Alex, have moved from Toronto to the countryside. At the same time, Priya shuts down all her social media accounts because she is trying to avoid all contact with her long-time friend, a straight man named Prakash. The blurb on the back cover makes this story sound like a thriller, but it is a psychological examination of friendships and love set in a context of homosexuality and immigrants of colour. The novel also explores memory and forgetting.After six years, Prakash re-establishes contact with Priya, and she invites him to visit her and Alex. He jumps at the chance. Alex is not happy that she hasn't been consulted about having an overnight guest. There is a good build up of tension between the two of them, and within Priya's mind about her upcoming reunion.I enjoyed the first part of the novel, told from Priya's perspective best. We learn her story and a lot about her relationship with Prakash, which is deep, loving, but fraught with tension. In the second part, Prakash arrives for his much anticipated and dreaded visit. I enjoyed this part less because it was more of the same....wondering and worrying...rather than resolving or escalating things. I guess life's like that. The writing is very good. I might read more by this author.