Amazon Canada and The Walrus have announced that Alicia Elliott, author of And Then She Fell (Doubleday Canada), is the winner of the 2024 Amazon Canada First Novel Award. Elliott was announced as the winner during the in-person ceremony on June 6, 2024 at The Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto.
And Then She Fell Embark is a gripping novel about Native life, motherhood and mental health. On the surface, Alice is exactly where she should be. She's just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dawn; her charming husband, Steve, is nothing but supportive; and they've recently moved to a wealthy neighbourhood in Toronto. And yet, Alice feels like an imposter. She isn't connecting with Dawn, a struggle made even more difficult by the recent loss of her mother, and every waking moment is spent hiding her despair from her watchful white neighbours. Her growing self-doubt hinders the one vestige of her old life she has left: her goal of writing a modern retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story.
Elliott's book was chosen from a shortlist of six works that also included the following novels:
- Empty Spaces, Jordan Abel (McClelland & Stewart)
- As the Andes Disappeared, Caroline Dawson (Book*hug Press)
- Tauhou: A Novel, Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall (House of Anansi Press)
- A History of Burning, Janika Oza (McClelland & Stewart)
- The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.)
Elliot took home the $60,000 prize while each shortlisted novelist received a $6,000 prize.
All of the books (including the winning novel) are available in print and Kindle editions on Amazon.ca. And Then She Fell, Empty Spaces, A History of Burning, and The Berry Pickers are also available as audiobooks through Audible.
Khaliya Rajan Wins the Youth Short Story Category
Now in its seventh year, the Youth Short Story category celebrates authors between the ages of thirteen and seventeen who have written a short story under 3,000 words. Sixteen-year-old Rajan was chosen as the winner by the First Novel Award’s panel of judges. The prize for her winning short story, “Waves,” is $5,000 and her story will be published on thewalrus.ca later this year. Each shortlisted youth author received a $500 prize.
For more information about the finalists and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, visit amazon.ca/firstnovelaward or thewalrus.ca/afna.
