8 Quintessentially Québécois Novels Set in Montreal

Montreal is a surging literary city with its own unique idiosyncrasies and marks of character. Compared with, say, Toronto, Montreal literature sits alongside a wider cultural scene arising from the bilingual locale with many universities, countless cultural festivals, and publishing hotspots, including the legendary indie darling Drawn & Quarterly, which specializes in graphic novels. All that and more feed a body of literature that feels somehow distinctly cool. Simply walking the streets, encountering the varied neighborhoods, landscapes, and architecture, is an inspiring experience for any writer looking to find the form for what it is they want to say.

This list of books by Québécois authors, primarily published first in French, demonstrates the city’s unique identity. Montreal is a hub of cultural contradictions, a home to many thousands of immigrants, an erotic city bursting with sensuality, a queer-friendly atmosphere set alongside deep religious roots, and a place of seasonal extremes: deadly hot in the summer (we read in parks), endlessly frigid in the winter (we read at home). There a...