Salmon Hour tells the metaphorical upstream journey of Ari, a thirty-three-year-old woman diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Written in first person, with bold, irony-tinged prose, the novel presents the day-to-day of a post-adolescent who lives in her grandparents’ old apartment and feels invincible simply because she’s young. But one day, life teaches her a lesson and, like the salmon just before it dies, she too must swim upstream.

While those around her make plans for the future — getting married, having children — Ari feels trapped in an uncertain present from which she can’t seem to escape, no matter how hard she swims against the current.

(Pagès Editors, 2025)

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