Close Modal

An Impossible Blue

A Novel

Hardcover
5-1/2"W x 8-1/4"H (14.0 x 21.0 cm) | 14 oz (391 g) | 12 per carton
On sale Jun 02, 2026 | 288 Pages | 9781039057173
Sales rights: Canada and Open Mkt

The long-anticipated, stunning new novel by esteemed author Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, whose last novel, Noopiming, was a Canadian bestseller and shortlisted for the GG Award for Fiction and the Dublin Literary Prize.

AN IMPOSSIBLE BLUE is told over the course of six months from the points of view of several different characters, each of whom is navigating their way through grief over the death of Akiwenzii—a central person in each of their lives—alongside the challenges of our present historical moment. Here is a gorgeously written, emotionally affecting, genre-bending novel that explores Nishnaabe webs of social structure—and shows how several different perspectives or truths, seen through the prism of grief, blend to make a larger understanding.
    Of An Impossible Blue, Dionne Brand, Editorial Director of Alchemy, writes: “The stories blend myth and the contemporary and try to make a way for their protagonists to live beside and within both.They search for the synergy within worlds, how to live in the contemporary world, the attempt to retrieve the self foreclosed in/and by the contemporary. The work is both narrative and philosophical, and the structure is neither linear nor explanatory, but revelatory.”
    Here is a rare novel that combines tremendous beauty in the prose with Nishnaabe humour and a generous, expansive spirit in the face of pain and devastation. The voice of each unforgettable character echoes in and through all other voices, creating a work that is much greater than the sum of its parts.
© Zahra Siddiqui
LEANNE BETASAMOSAKE SIMPSON is a Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer and artist who is widely recognized as one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation. An independent scholar who uses Nishnaabeg intellectual practices, Leanne has lectured and taught extensively at universities across Canada and the US. She is an award-winning musician and the author of eight previous books, including the nonfiction A Short History of the Blockade and the novels Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies, which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and the Dublin Literary Prize, and This Accident of Being Lost, which was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Trillium Book Award. Her nonfiction collaboration with Robyn Maynard, Rehearsals for Living, was a national bestseller and shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction. View titles by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Available for sale exclusive:
•     Canada

Available for sale non-exclusive:
•     Afghanistan
•     Aland Islands
•     Albania
•     Algeria
•     Andorra
•     Angola
•     Anguilla
•     Antarctica
•     Argentina
•     Armenia
•     Aruba
•     Austria
•     Azerbaijan
•     Bahrain
•     Belarus
•     Belgium
•     Benin
•     Bhutan
•     Bolivia
•     Bonaire, Saba
•     Bosnia Herzeg.
•     Bouvet Island
•     Brazil
•     Bulgaria
•     Burkina Faso
•     Burundi
•     Cambodia
•     Cameroon
•     Cape Verde
•     Centr.Afr.Rep.
•     Chad
•     Chile
•     China
•     Colombia
•     Comoro Is.
•     Congo
•     Cook Islands
•     Costa Rica
•     Croatia
•     Cuba
•     Curacao
•     Czech Republic
•     Dem. Rep. Congo
•     Denmark
•     Djibouti
•     Dominican Rep.
•     Ecuador
•     Egypt
•     El Salvador
•     Equatorial Gui.
•     Eritrea
•     Estonia
•     Ethiopia
•     Faroe Islands
•     Finland
•     France
•     Fren.Polynesia
•     French Guinea
•     Gabon
•     Georgia
•     Germany
•     Greece
•     Greenland
•     Guadeloupe
•     Guatemala
•     Guinea Republic
•     Guinea-Bissau
•     Haiti
•     Heard/McDon.Isl
•     Honduras
•     Hong Kong
•     Hungary
•     Iceland
•     Indonesia
•     Iran
•     Iraq
•     Israel
•     Italy
•     Ivory Coast
•     Japan
•     Jordan
•     Kazakhstan
•     Kuwait
•     Kyrgyzstan
•     Laos
•     Latvia
•     Lebanon
•     Liberia
•     Libya
•     Liechtenstein
•     Lithuania
•     Luxembourg
•     Macau
•     Macedonia
•     Madagascar
•     Maldives
•     Mali
•     Marshall island
•     Martinique
•     Mauritania
•     Mayotte
•     Mexico
•     Micronesia
•     Moldavia
•     Monaco
•     Mongolia
•     Montenegro
•     Morocco
•     Myanmar
•     Nepal
•     Netherlands
•     New Caledonia
•     Nicaragua
•     Niger
•     Niue
•     Norfolk Island
•     North Korea
•     Norway
•     Oman
•     Palau
•     Palestinian Ter
•     Panama
•     Paraguay
•     Peru
•     Philippines
•     Poland
•     Portugal
•     Qatar
•     Reunion Island
•     Romania
•     Russian Fed.
•     Rwanda
•     Saint Martin
•     San Marino
•     SaoTome Princip
•     Saudi Arabia
•     Senegal
•     Serbia
•     Singapore
•     Sint Maarten
•     Slovakia
•     Slovenia
•     South Korea
•     South Sudan
•     Spain
•     St Barthelemy
•     St.Pier,Miquel.
•     Sth Terr. Franc
•     Sudan
•     Suriname
•     Svalbard
•     Sweden
•     Switzerland
•     Syria
•     Tadschikistan
•     Taiwan
•     Thailand
•     Timor-Leste
•     Togo
•     Tokelau Islands
•     Tunisia
•     Turkey
•     Turkmenistan
•     Ukraine
•     Unit.Arab Emir.
•     Uruguay
•     Uzbekistan
•     Vatican City
•     Venezuela
•     Vietnam
•     Wallis,Futuna
•     West Saharan
•     Western Samoa
•     Yemen

Not available for sale:
•     Antigua/Barbuda
•     Australia
•     Bahamas
•     Bangladesh
•     Barbados
•     Belize
•     Bermuda
•     Botswana
•     Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter
•     Brit.Virgin Is.
•     Brunei
•     Cayman Islands
•     Christmas Islnd
•     Cocos Islands
•     Cyprus
•     Dominica
•     Falkland Islnds
•     Fiji
•     Gambia
•     Ghana
•     Gibraltar
•     Grenada
•     Guam
•     Guernsey
•     Guyana
•     India
•     Ireland
•     Isle of Man
•     Jamaica
•     Jersey
•     Kenya
•     Kiribati
•     Lesotho
•     Malawi
•     Malaysia
•     Malta
•     Mauritius
•     Minor Outl.Ins.
•     Montserrat
•     Mozambique
•     Namibia
•     Nauru
•     New Zealand
•     Nigeria
•     North Mariana
•     Pakistan
•     PapuaNewGuinea
•     Pitcairn Islnds
•     Puerto Rico
•     S. Sandwich Ins
•     Samoa,American
•     Seychelles
•     Sierra Leone
•     Solomon Islands
•     Somalia
•     South Africa
•     Sri Lanka
•     St. Helena
•     St. Lucia
•     St. Vincent
•     St.Chr.,Nevis
•     Swaziland
•     Tanzania
•     Tonga
•     Trinidad,Tobago
•     Turks&Caicos Is
•     Tuvalu
•     US Virgin Is.
•     USA
•     Uganda
•     United Kingdom
•     Vanuatu
•     Zambia
•     Zimbabwe

About

The long-anticipated, stunning new novel by esteemed author Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, whose last novel, Noopiming, was a Canadian bestseller and shortlisted for the GG Award for Fiction and the Dublin Literary Prize.

AN IMPOSSIBLE BLUE is told over the course of six months from the points of view of several different characters, each of whom is navigating their way through grief over the death of Akiwenzii—a central person in each of their lives—alongside the challenges of our present historical moment. Here is a gorgeously written, emotionally affecting, genre-bending novel that explores Nishnaabe webs of social structure—and shows how several different perspectives or truths, seen through the prism of grief, blend to make a larger understanding.
    Of An Impossible Blue, Dionne Brand, Editorial Director of Alchemy, writes: “The stories blend myth and the contemporary and try to make a way for their protagonists to live beside and within both.They search for the synergy within worlds, how to live in the contemporary world, the attempt to retrieve the self foreclosed in/and by the contemporary. The work is both narrative and philosophical, and the structure is neither linear nor explanatory, but revelatory.”
    Here is a rare novel that combines tremendous beauty in the prose with Nishnaabe humour and a generous, expansive spirit in the face of pain and devastation. The voice of each unforgettable character echoes in and through all other voices, creating a work that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Author

© Zahra Siddiqui
LEANNE BETASAMOSAKE SIMPSON is a Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer and artist who is widely recognized as one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation. An independent scholar who uses Nishnaabeg intellectual practices, Leanne has lectured and taught extensively at universities across Canada and the US. She is an award-winning musician and the author of eight previous books, including the nonfiction A Short History of the Blockade and the novels Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies, which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and the Dublin Literary Prize, and This Accident of Being Lost, which was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Trillium Book Award. Her nonfiction collaboration with Robyn Maynard, Rehearsals for Living, was a national bestseller and shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction. View titles by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Rights

Available for sale exclusive:
•     Canada

Available for sale non-exclusive:
•     Afghanistan
•     Aland Islands
•     Albania
•     Algeria
•     Andorra
•     Angola
•     Anguilla
•     Antarctica
•     Argentina
•     Armenia
•     Aruba
•     Austria
•     Azerbaijan
•     Bahrain
•     Belarus
•     Belgium
•     Benin
•     Bhutan
•     Bolivia
•     Bonaire, Saba
•     Bosnia Herzeg.
•     Bouvet Island
•     Brazil
•     Bulgaria
•     Burkina Faso
•     Burundi
•     Cambodia
•     Cameroon
•     Cape Verde
•     Centr.Afr.Rep.
•     Chad
•     Chile
•     China
•     Colombia
•     Comoro Is.
•     Congo
•     Cook Islands
•     Costa Rica
•     Croatia
•     Cuba
•     Curacao
•     Czech Republic
•     Dem. Rep. Congo
•     Denmark
•     Djibouti
•     Dominican Rep.
•     Ecuador
•     Egypt
•     El Salvador
•     Equatorial Gui.
•     Eritrea
•     Estonia
•     Ethiopia
•     Faroe Islands
•     Finland
•     France
•     Fren.Polynesia
•     French Guinea
•     Gabon
•     Georgia
•     Germany
•     Greece
•     Greenland
•     Guadeloupe
•     Guatemala
•     Guinea Republic
•     Guinea-Bissau
•     Haiti
•     Heard/McDon.Isl
•     Honduras
•     Hong Kong
•     Hungary
•     Iceland
•     Indonesia
•     Iran
•     Iraq
•     Israel
•     Italy
•     Ivory Coast
•     Japan
•     Jordan
•     Kazakhstan
•     Kuwait
•     Kyrgyzstan
•     Laos
•     Latvia
•     Lebanon
•     Liberia
•     Libya
•     Liechtenstein
•     Lithuania
•     Luxembourg
•     Macau
•     Macedonia
•     Madagascar
•     Maldives
•     Mali
•     Marshall island
•     Martinique
•     Mauritania
•     Mayotte
•     Mexico
•     Micronesia
•     Moldavia
•     Monaco
•     Mongolia
•     Montenegro
•     Morocco
•     Myanmar
•     Nepal
•     Netherlands
•     New Caledonia
•     Nicaragua
•     Niger
•     Niue
•     Norfolk Island
•     North Korea
•     Norway
•     Oman
•     Palau
•     Palestinian Ter
•     Panama
•     Paraguay
•     Peru
•     Philippines
•     Poland
•     Portugal
•     Qatar
•     Reunion Island
•     Romania
•     Russian Fed.
•     Rwanda
•     Saint Martin
•     San Marino
•     SaoTome Princip
•     Saudi Arabia
•     Senegal
•     Serbia
•     Singapore
•     Sint Maarten
•     Slovakia
•     Slovenia
•     South Korea
•     South Sudan
•     Spain
•     St Barthelemy
•     St.Pier,Miquel.
•     Sth Terr. Franc
•     Sudan
•     Suriname
•     Svalbard
•     Sweden
•     Switzerland
•     Syria
•     Tadschikistan
•     Taiwan
•     Thailand
•     Timor-Leste
•     Togo
•     Tokelau Islands
•     Tunisia
•     Turkey
•     Turkmenistan
•     Ukraine
•     Unit.Arab Emir.
•     Uruguay
•     Uzbekistan
•     Vatican City
•     Venezuela
•     Vietnam
•     Wallis,Futuna
•     West Saharan
•     Western Samoa
•     Yemen

Not available for sale:
•     Antigua/Barbuda
•     Australia
•     Bahamas
•     Bangladesh
•     Barbados
•     Belize
•     Bermuda
•     Botswana
•     Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter
•     Brit.Virgin Is.
•     Brunei
•     Cayman Islands
•     Christmas Islnd
•     Cocos Islands
•     Cyprus
•     Dominica
•     Falkland Islnds
•     Fiji
•     Gambia
•     Ghana
•     Gibraltar
•     Grenada
•     Guam
•     Guernsey
•     Guyana
•     India
•     Ireland
•     Isle of Man
•     Jamaica
•     Jersey
•     Kenya
•     Kiribati
•     Lesotho
•     Malawi
•     Malaysia
•     Malta
•     Mauritius
•     Minor Outl.Ins.
•     Montserrat
•     Mozambique
•     Namibia
•     Nauru
•     New Zealand
•     Nigeria
•     North Mariana
•     Pakistan
•     PapuaNewGuinea
•     Pitcairn Islnds
•     Puerto Rico
•     S. Sandwich Ins
•     Samoa,American
•     Seychelles
•     Sierra Leone
•     Solomon Islands
•     Somalia
•     South Africa
•     Sri Lanka
•     St. Helena
•     St. Lucia
•     St. Vincent
•     St.Chr.,Nevis
•     Swaziland
•     Tanzania
•     Tonga
•     Trinidad,Tobago
•     Turks&Caicos Is
•     Tuvalu
•     US Virgin Is.
•     USA
•     Uganda
•     United Kingdom
•     Vanuatu
•     Zambia
•     Zimbabwe