Vincent Smith

Vincent is one of the main characters of the novel, which both opens and closes with her death. Over the course of the 30+ years the plot spans, the reader sees Vincent at many stages in her life. At age 13, her mother disappears after taking a canoe out on the water in Caiette. Afterward, Vincent's life is consumed by this event, as she wonders whether her mother drowned intentionally or accidentally. It is around this time that Vincent was given a video camera by her grandmother, and she used it to make five-minute video clips, an artistic outlet that brought her joy. Finding it a challenge to raise her alone, Vincent's father sent her to live with her aunt shortly thereafter, but Vincent moved out of this home when she was 17, getting an apartment in Vancouver with a high school friend. She is living here when she is...