the winter vault by anne michaels

"From the moment Ewa sent me this photograph, I knew the image was right for the novel. I felt at once there was a deep honesty and a compelling "necessity" to the elements she brings together in the photograph. Only later did I learn that this composite held a strong personal gravity for Ewa. There are three main characters in the novel and - extraordinarily - I felt that the child in the photo could be a childhood photo of any of those three, and the mother's face  - deeply moving - could belong to the mother of any of those three. For me, the profound connection among these characters is somehow hinted at in these two faces. Also, of course, there is a palpable sense of historical grief, and the meaning of the "vault" that underlies the relationship of those faces. By some coincidence, separately, in her own creating, Ewa had brought together elements that captured the history, and the history of those characters, in the novel."    Anne Michaels

i remember when i showed this photograph to anne she looked at it for a very long time...

THE WINTER VAULT WAS NOMINATED FOR THE GILLER PRIZE IN 2009