…And This is the Cure follows Allison Winter, public radio pop-culture journalist and former riot grrrrrl as she regains custody of her adolescent daughter, Hanna, following the murder of her ex-husband. She is unprepared to deal with either the demands of parenting or the fury of her ex-husband’s religiously conservative, grieving family, so she pulls up roots and moves Hanna from Winnipeg to Toronto.

Allison’s sweet-natured partner, Eden, struggles to take on the day-to-day parenting while Allison resumes her career and avoids the chaos building at home. Despite all efforts, tensions swell and Hanna’s rage over her disrupted life eventually erupts in episodes of violence.

…And This Is the Cure is a novel about the weight of unresolved baggage — its pain and trauma — and working through the process of healing and moving on.

Praise for … And This is the Cure

“Lapointe’s ability to plot such a complex narrative but also imbue so many different elements with thematic resonance is to be commended. This is the kind of novel that pulls the reader forward with an exciting plot, but also rewards a second reading with surprising and intricate insights.

A deftly plotted and executed novel, …And This Is the Cure continues to advance Annette Lapointe’s already impressive literary career.”
— Winnipeg Free Press

“A book that ostensibly should be too much—how can a person fit so many things into a single novel? — but which works, is eminently readable. Mostly because of Allison Winter, Lapointe’s stunning fictional creation, a woman who is shattered and still standing, flawed and perfect, terrified and brave, smart and ridiculous, loving and fierce, damaged and whole, missing and present.  . . . Lapointe nails it, unbelievably. I loved it.”

— Pickle Me This

“This is a gritty and gripping look into the life of a remarkably real woman.

In sharing Allison’s story, Lapointe addresses the perils of a too-sheltered existence alongside those of a life of overwhelming overexposure, almost in parallel. Through Allison, we learn that our past does not have to set the precedent for our future or even for our present. Like our punk-rock protagonist, we all have a far greater capacity to learn, grow and love than we know.”

— The Manitoban

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