Worst case, we get married

Aïcha lives with her mother in Montreal's Centre-Sud neighbourhood. She's only thirteen but claims to be older. She has never known her father, and resents her mother for leaving Hakim, her stepfather. Her only friends are Mel and Jo, two local prostitutes, and Baz, a musician in his twenties, who comes to her rescue one day and with whom she proceeds to fall in love. Her impossible love for Baz, her precociousness and her rebellious streak come together into an explosive cocktail. Raw and heartrending, Worst Case, We Get Married is the statement Aïcha gives to a social worker.

From acclaimed Québécois writer Sophie Bievenu, and translated by JC Sutcliffe, comes Worst Case, We Get Married, a powerful and moving coming-of-age novel. Originally published in French in 2011 as Et au pire, on se mariera, the novel was adapted into a film by Bienvenu and Léa Pool in 2017.

"Sophie Bienvenu gets inside the head of a whip-smart, lovesick teenager whose fantasy life bleeds into her reality to chilling effect. Listen to her story and be seduced (and horrified). Worst Case, We Get Married is Quebec lit at its best." —Neil Smith, author of Boo