May Our Joy Endure

Winner of the 2023 Prix Medicis, Prix Decembre, and Prix Ringuet

May Our Joy Endure follows Celine Wachowski, an internationally renowned architect and accidental digital-culture icon, as she unveils her plans for the Webuy Complex, her first megaproject in Montreal, her hometown. Instead of the triumph she anticipates in finally bringing her reputation to bear in her own city, the project faces harsh criticism. Critics accuse her of callously destroying the social fabric of neighbourhoods, ushering in a new era of gentrification, and other grave sins.

When Celine is deposed as CEO of her firm, she must make sense of the charges against herself and the people in her elite circle. In danger of losing their footing for the first time, what fictions must they tell themselves to justify their privilege and maintain their position in the world they have built?

Moving fluidly between Celine's perspective and the perspectives of her critics, and revealing both the ruthlessness of her methods and the brilliance of her aesthetic vision, May Our Joy Endure offers a shrewd examination of the microcosm of the ultra-privileged. This dazzling social novel depicts with razor-sharp acuity the terrible beauty of wealth, influence, and art.