Gail Scott's Main Brides, a textual intervention into the urban spaces of Montreal during the time immediately following the Montreal Massacre of Dec. 6, 1989, examines the ways in which urban spaces invite and deny women's belonging. The portraits of the main character, Lydia, invite the reader to engage in an active process of reading and interpreting history as it is played out on the surfaces of the city and the bodies of its citizens. The textual fragments of Main Bodies emphasize juxtaposition, simultaneity, and surface-- characteristics of space rather than time.
