But everyone expects at least a little bit of deception as they go through their days and nights, and there’s a chance of winning nevertheless, so many choose to play

Alex is a motherless stockboy in 1830s Montreal, waiting desperately for his father to return from France. Serge, a drunken fur trader, promises food and safety in return for friendship, but an expedition into the forest quickly goes awry.

At the mercy of men whose motives are unclear, Alex must learn to find his own way in a world where taking advantage of others has become second nature. But will he have to abandon his humanity to survive?

The Voyageur is a brilliantly realised novel set on the margins of British North America, where kindness is costly, and where the real wilderness may not be in the landscape that surrounds them but in the hearts of men.

PAUL CARLUCCI is the author of one novel and two collections of stories. The Voyageur is his second novel, and his first to be published outside Canada. He lives in Ottawa.