The postman's round

"Bilodo is a conscientious postman who shares his Montreal apartment and solitary existence with his goldfish, Bill. The model postal employee has a secret vice, however: he steams open and reads all personal letters before delivering them. This clandestine activity leads him to fall under the spell of Segolene, a Guadeloupean beauty, the penfriend of an eccentric intellectual on Bilodo's beat."

"Segolene's letters always consist of a single poem, a haiku. As Bilodo immerses himself in the study of this classical Japanese verse form, a tragic incident occurs, upsetting his comfortable routine and spurring him on to devise a complex subterfuge that will eventually cause his life to spiral out of control. Around these events, Denis Theriault weaves a passionate tragicomic love story full of twists and turns, but also rich in dazzling descriptions of lush, tropical landscapes and subtle evocations of the sober, precise art of the haiku."--Jacket.