One eRead/Un livrel Canada is an annual digital book club connecting readers and libraries from across Canada. This year’s pick is Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah, with the French version translated by Daniel Grenier.
For the month of April, we will have unlimited access to Hotline (in French and English) in eBook and eAudiobook formats with no holds or waitlists. You’ll be able to borrow this book along with countless others in Barrie and across Canada!
How to Join In
Read the eBook
Using your library card, you can borrow the eBook in English and French through cloudLibrary. You can access cloudLibrary on your web browser, your mobile device or an eReader to get reading.
Listen to the eAudiobook
The eAudiobook is available in English on cloudLibrary and Hoopla. To listen on your computer or mobile device, get started with Hoopla or cloudLibrary.
Borrow a print copy
If you prefer reading print books, we also have copies of Hotline in English and French to borrow from our locations.
Join the conversation online
We encourage you to join in the conversation on Facebook and Instagram, as well as browse the official One eRead Canada website to learn more about this initiative.
About the Book
Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah
“A vivid love letter to the 1980s and one woman’s struggle to overcome the challenges of immigration. It’s 1986, and Muna Heddad is in a bind. She and her son have moved to Montreal, leaving behind a civil war filled with bad memories in Lebanon. She had plans to find work as a French teacher, but no one in Quebec trusts her to teach the language. She needs to start making money, and fast. The only work Muna can find is at a weight-loss center as a hotline operator. All day, she takes calls from people responding to ads seen in magazines or on TV. On the phone, she’s Mona, and she’s quite good at listening. These strangers all have so much to say once someone shows interest in their lives – marriages gone bad, parents dying, isolation, personal inadequacies. Even as her daily life in Canada is filled with invisible barriers at every turn, at the office Muna is privy to her clients’ deepest secrets. Following international acclaim for Niko (2011) and The Bleeds (2018), Dimitri Nasrallah has written a vivid elegy to the 1980s, the years he first moved to Canada, bringing the era’s systemic challenges into the current moment through this deeply endearing portrait of struggle, perseverance, and bonding.”
Thank you to the Canadian Urban Library Council (CULC) for creating another opportunity for all Canadian public libraries to participate in this Canada-wide bilingual digital reading program.