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New Cross Press

@new.cross.press

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Indie press publishing fiction that engages with the world around us both in translation and in English. Based in New Cross, South East London.
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🪰REVIEW🪰Horsefly by Mireille Gagné translated by Pablo Strauss I'd be very surprised if this didn't make it into my top reads of the year. Told over two timelines, one in the present (or near future) and one in the 1940s. The story was propulsive and beautifully human although partly narrated by a Horsefly whose thoughts I didn't expect to be so terrified and enraptured by! The 1940s timeline was told through diary entries, which I really enjoyed, even though the mission that the character had been sent on was morally devastating. I loved how the timelines were linked and woven together throughout the book. Making the reading experience really enjoyable as I slowly started to understand how the story would progress. Horsefly looks at climate change, war, capitalism and the way we search for connection (even if we're a creepy Horsefly)! Overall I found it a thrilling book but I do have one issue....it was over far too soon! New Cross Press is a new indie publisher that everyone should know about. Horsefly is a book I can't praise highly enough, so I'm very excited to see what the rest of their titles will be like. Massive thanks to @new.cross.press @kellydpike and @amuchneededbreak for getting a review copy (and very cool tote bag) sent my way! 🧡 #bookreview #indiepublisher #translatedliterature by @new.cross.press
23
2 months ago
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🎙️EPISODE THIRTEEN IS NOW LIVE!🎙️ I am absolutely delighted to share that my episode with Pablo Strauss is now live!💙 Tune into the latest episode to learn more about Pablo’s journey into literary translation, in which he reflects on how a lifelong curiosity about languages and cultures eventually led him to Quebec, where an immersion in French literature paved the way for his career as a translator. We discussed his translation of Mireille Gagné’s Horsefly (published by @coachhousebooks in 2025 and @new.cross.press in 2026), exploring the novel’s three interwoven timelines and its haunting exploration of climate change, memory, disease, and humanity’s fragile relationship with the natural world. Pablo dives into the fascinating challenge of translating the perspective of a horsefly, balancing an unfamiliar non-human voice with a tone that remained unsettling, lyrical, and believable for English-language readers. It was fascinating to hear about the creative decisions involved in translating a novel so deeply rooted in Quebec, from navigating regional expressions and cultural references to recreating the landscapes and atmosphere that shape the story. You can tune into the latest episode of It’s Lit in Translation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts 🎙️🎧 📖: @new.cross.press @coachhousebooks @jpablostrauss 📸: Pablo Strauss #itslitintranslation #literatureintranslation #readaroundtheworld #literarypodcast #quebecliterature by @new.cross.press
3
3 months ago
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𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗳𝗹𝘆 by Mireille Gagné Gagné’s prose is deceptively simple, elegant, restrained, and effortlessly readable. There’s nothing overly elaborate about the writing, yet every page carries a growing sense of unease. The tension builds gradually, creating an atmosphere that becomes increasingly oppressive. Inspired by real historical events, the novel moves between wartime and present-day Quebec, weaving together the stories of Theodore, a factory worker whose life is disrupted by a relentless horsefly infestation, Thomas, an entomologist recruited to a secret wartime research project, and a female horsefly whose unsettling perspective adds an eerie dimension to the story. What makes the novel particularly memorable is its narrative structure. The story alternates between Theodore and Thomas, while we’re also given short chapters from the perspective of the horsefly. It sounds unusual, yet it works brilliantly, giving the novel an almost surreal quality and reminding us that nature exists beyond human understanding or control. The shifting timelines gradually reveal how the past and present are connected. Rather than feeling confusing, they add depth and suspense as the story slowly comes together. Although this isn’t horror in the traditional sense, it certainly has the atmosphere of horror. There’s a constant sense that something is wrong, that danger is creeping ever closer. The horseflies become almost monstrous because the threat feels so relentlessly real. They also come to symbolise the fears, tensions, and destructive forces that spread through the community just as relentlessly as the infestation itself. Beneath its unsettling atmosphere, Horsefly is a thoughtful exploration of fear, power, trust, and the fragile structures that hold communities together. Knowing that the story draws inspiration from real historical events only makes it more disturbing. I don’t think I’ll ever look at horseflies, or probably any flies, the same way again. This is the kind of novel that crawls under your skin. A quietly haunting blend of literary fiction, psychological tension, and eco-horror, it was a great read. by @new.cross.press
20
2 months ago
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AD: Horsefly by Mireille Gagné Reading this book during a heatwave was an exceptional immersive experience. Horsefly is a novel split across 3 narrators; Theodore, a young man in Quebec during a record-breaking heatwave, where an unbridled rage appears to sweeping across the inhabitants (very reminiscent of Fernanda Trias' Pink Slime); Thomas, a entomologist (study of insects) in 1942, enlisted by the allies in WW2 to conduct research on Grosse Île; and finally a female horsefly. Theodore is the example of a man stuck in the modern world, adrift and alone, he works at the factory, drinks, and seems unable to care about the heat or the horseflies infiltrating his apartment. He has no family left except for his aging grandfather Emile, living in a care home with his fading memory. Back in 1942, we meet Emile again as a young man. When the scientist Thomas moves to Grosse Île for his research, he meets a young Emile and his family. As the scientists conduct research into horrific chemical and biological warfare, their results are unable to be contained, leaking from the laboratory's to infiltrate the minds and bodies of the scientists and Emile. The female horsefly is a poetic narrator, we see her obsession for Theodore back in the modern world, and her unbridled rage at his rebuttal of her bite. She is the connection of these stories, her ancestors born there on the banks of the St Lawrence River, the consequences of the research conducted by Thomas, and the lingering affects of the environmental damage caused by our desire for power. I loved the writing and translation of this book, every sentence felt powerful and no word was out of place. The powerful message of this novel has still stuck with me. Thank you to @new.cross.press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review, I cannot wait to see what you publish next! #ad #bookreview #translatedfiction by @new.cross.press
7
3 months ago
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🎙️EPISODE THIRTEEN REVEAL🎙️ i am absolutely delighted to welcome literary translator Pablo Straus to It’s Lit in Translation!💙 In this episode, Pablo takes us through his journey into literary translation, reflecting on how a lifelong curiosity about languages and cultures eventually led him to Quebec, where an immersion in French literature paved the way for his career as a translator. We dive into his translation of Mireille Gagné’s Horsefly, exploring the novel’s three interwoven timelines and its haunting exploration of climate change, memory, disease, and humanity’s fragile relationship with the natural world. i can’t wait to share the episode with you all this week! the countdown begins now 🎙️📚 📸: Pablo Strauss 📖: @new.cross.press @mireillegagne1 @coachhousebooks #itslitintranslation #literarytranslation #readaroundtheworld #pablostrauss #quebecliterature by @new.cross.press
7
3 months ago
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HORSEFLY - Mireille Gagné, tr. from the French by Pablo Strauss, New Cross Press A heatwave ravages Quebec as Theodore tries to care for his elderly father suffering from dementia. Horseflies begin to arrive and Theodore finds he must travel to Grosse Île to understand the critical connection to a secret WWII-era military base responsible for conducting experiments of biological warfare which is rooted deep in his father’s now-fractured memory. Mesmerisingly told from mixed points of view, including that of a horsefly as it surveys human interaction, this novella astutely brings to the fore the inextricable relationship we all have with the natural world. Language that transitions smoothly between chapters, it is clear that Strauss has worked diligently to transform Gagné’s work for the anglophone reader. The stifling heat and impending dangers of human meddling in both past and present are felt acutely on the page, taking the reader on a terse journey of how historical errors by design continue to have a long-lasting impact on ecosystems. I’ve been thinking about this book ever since I finished it. This dystopian eco-horror that tries to forewarn us of the dangers of complacency and inaction in the face of man-made horrors is all too relevant in the aftermath of the recent heatwave across Europe. Thank you so much to @new.cross.press for sending me a copy of this - I am so thrilled to see francophone literature from Quebec making its way to us across the Atlantic! Read this in and around New Cross Gate and New Cross obviously. LONGLISTED Prix Littéraire France-Québec 2025 taken in New Cross by @new.cross.press
4
3 months ago
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Horsefly by Mireille Gagné (translation by Pablo Strauss) "The Earth cannot support you much longer. I dream of the moment it expels you from its great throat, like a mouthful of rotten food. I, for one, will rejoice. We shall all be filled with joy, free at last from your presence, from your failure. No one signed a contract with you for all eternity." There aren't many books that can make horseflies compelling narrators, yet Horsefly does exactly that. This slim novel may be short, but it carries remarkable weight, blending eco-horror, literary fiction and speculative storytelling into something that feels genuinely unlike anything else I've read. The story follows Theodore in present day Quebec and his ageing grandfather, whose failing memory is haunted by events stretching back decades. As Theodore helps him piece together fragments of the past, the novel shifts to the 1940s, where an ecologist is recruited into a secret wartime project to develop biological weapons using insects. Across multiple perspective, including the collective voice of the horseflies themselves, the timelines gradually converge, revealing the lasting consequences of humanity's attempts to manipulate the natural world. The novel explores humanity's desire to dominate nature, and the inevitable consequences of believing we can control it, incredibly well. There is an unsettling atmosphere, littered with questions of climate change, environmental collapse, and human arrogance. Mireille Gagné does not offer simple answers, but presents nature as something that resists ownership. The writing is intensely sensory, immersing you in oppressive heat, buzzing insects and a creeping unease. I especially enjoyed the shifting timelines and perspectives, with the horseflies embodying nature's enduring memory. Experimental, suspenseful and endlessly thought-provoking, Horsefly is one of the most original books I've read this year. I never expected one of my favourite reads of the year so far to be narrated, in part, by horseflies, but here we are 🪰 [Ad / gifted] Thank you to @new.cross.press for sending me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! Horsefly is out now! 🪰 by @new.cross.press
3
3 months ago
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1 week after the release of Horsefly! We are delighted to see so many readers enjoying this fantastic novel and sharing their thoughts. If you haven’t gotten your copy of Horsefly yet, what are you waiting for?🪰 #indiepress #independentpublisher #horseflymireillegagne #newcrosspress #firstpublication by @new.cross.press
1
3 months ago
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Happy publication day to Horsefly by Mireille Gagné, translated from the French by Pablo Strauss, and published by @new.cross.press 🪰 Horsefly follows the three interconnecting stories of Theodore, Thomas, and a horsefly, as they navigate their own trials through war and a sweltering summer. There is a claustrophobic sense to the novel; whether it’s the island where Thomas is experimenting on flies to use as weapons, the nursing home where Émeril is confined, the dementia that further confines him, or the heat that forces everyone around Theodore to lose their senses and give in to violence, the novel traps you amongst these characters. For such a short book, I found that Gagné’s writing commands visceral reactions the whole way through, and the story itself felt controlled. I didn’t expect to love a book about horseflies so much. Thank you to New Cross Press for sending a copy of this ahead of its release. This is the first book from them, and I’m so excited for their future releases! #newrelease #bookstagram #igreads #bookreview #bookrecommendations by @new.cross.press
7
3 months ago
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If you had told me that one of my favourite reads this year would be about Horseflies, I would have questioned how well you know me! #Horsefly by @mireillegagne1 tr. by Pablo Strauss, published by @new.cross.press is a brilliant novel that I read in one sitting. The novel has three narrative strands. That of Theodore, a young man from Quebec in the present day who works in a factory and cares for his granddad Émeril. There is also an entomologist called Thomas in the 1940s who has been conscripted to research and find a biological carrier to use for warfare and worked with Émeril, and the narrator who talks directly to us - a horsefly bent on revenge against the human race. In a small town in Quebec, they are in the middle of a heatwave, rage and violence seems to be on the rise, and the air is thick with horseflies that are everywhere. All seeing and pervasive, the Horsefly tells us how it wants to destroy us, which seems strange, but as we follow Thomas’ story, we understand what happened at the military facility has determined the future of the human race. Theodore has been brought up by Émeril, who is now in the throes of dementia, and is desperate that together they travel back to the abandoned facility - which will change their lives forever. Horsefly is inspired by biological research that was carried out on Grosse Île betwee 1942 and 1956, and Fort Detrick in the U.S., about using insects as vectors of transmission. This is evident in the depth and research of the writing, but it has a deeply human element as we see how people are affected by the change in climate, the horseflies and the research that has been kept hidden. The novel is not only about the natural world, but is also about the importance of human connection and prevalence of loneliness in our society. It shows how our existence is irrevocably linked with the natural world, and if we fail to save our environment we may find ourselves no longer needed. Horsefly is a short, sharp shock of a novel which is not only a compelling and thoughtful story, but a warning we need to stop, look around and take action. I absolutely loved it. Thank you to @new.cross.press for my ad pr copy. by @new.cross.press
13
3 months ago
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We are delighted to share that our first publication is out today! 🪰HORSEFLY🪰 by Mireille Gagné, translated from French by Pablo Strauss Theodore’s world is shrinking. He cares for his grandfather, Émeril, whose dementia is increasingly tethered to a cryptic wartime past. Outside, a record-breaking heatwave has turned Quebec into a pressure cooker of domestic rage and inexplicable public violence. In the shadow of this heat dome, the horseflies have arrived: large, predatory, and unnervingly persistent. To understand the infection taking hold of the province, Theodore must accompany Émeril back to Grosse Île, a secret military base where, in 1942, a young entomologist was conscripted to develop the perfect biological carrier. Moving between the experimental horrors of the 1940s and a contemporary climate in crisis, Mireille Gagné’s novel is a visceral exploration of the predatory relationship between human violence and the natural world. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ “Inspired by historical facts, Mireille Gagné’s new novel, Horsefly, at times takes on the appearance of a waking nightmare. Terribly disturbing, but furiously captivating.” SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIX LITTÉRAIRE FRANCE–QUÉBEC 2025 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ You can order your copy of Horsefly through your local bookshop and Waterstones. #newcrosspress #independentpublisher #firstpublication #quebecliterature #indiepress by @new.cross.press
2
3 months ago
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Horsefly by Mireille Gagné, translated by Pablo Strauss 🪰 Happy publication day to this extraordinary book - and the first title from @new.cross.press! 👏 Thank you so much to the publisher for allowing me to read this ahead of the big day. I thought… what better way to celebrate than to share my review (and convince you all to read it now it’s out… I promise you’re in for a treat!). Horsefly, in just shy of 150 pages, truly packs a punch. Gagné’s ability to explore so many important themes - from political corruption to infection, climate disaster and conflict - is very admirable. What emerges from this melting pot of complex themes is a narrative that follows the aftermath of a scientific experiment on nature which aimed to produce a military-grade weapon decades after it is created. What I loved most about this novella was how stylistically unique it was. Some chapters force us to literally become the fly on the wall as we follow the perspective of a horsefly navigating the world and contending with the intense bloodthirst that dictates its every move. This incredibly creative inclusion goes the extra mile in encouraging us as the reader to contemplate the effect that experimentation in the name of political corruption can have on even the smallest beings in nature. These chapters also made impressive use of body horror which went so far as to unsettle me and make me feel a little bit itchy - definitely an immersive reading experience! I also loved the interspersed diary entries throughout which allowed me, as the reader, a glimpse into the past. Despite following two different timelines - past and present (set in 2024) - the structure never became confusing for me, only intriguing as these two storylines became ever more clearly intertwined. While short in length, this novella has a large and lasting impact. And set in an unbearably hot present-day climate, dare I say the current UK heatwave will only add extra atmosphere to your reading experience 😅 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5) by @new.cross.press
14
3 months ago
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