Lives of the Saints

Book excerpt: National Bestseller A New York Times Best Book Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction Winner of the Books in Canada First Novel Award Winner of the F.G. Bressani Prize Winner of the Betty Trask Award Winner of the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize First published thirty years ago, Lives of the Saints moves to Anchor Canada What really happened to Vittorio's mother that day in the stable? That she'd been bitten by a snake was clear enough: the swelling in the ankle proved it. But that other swelling, the one that led eventually to his mother's long, loose dresses, to those dark, cold stares from the other villagers--what strange thing could be taking shape there in his mother's belly, and what doom would it carry them all to?