Cold Chaos

Stories from a North

By: Nathalie Guilbeault

Narrated by: Ashley Pomeroy

Cold Chaos, Stories from a North, is Nathalie Guilbeault’s first collection of short stories. Set in northern Quebec, where the author lived most of her adolescent years, the stories decompose the emotional and physical realities of living between the 49th and 55th northern parallels, inside the peacefulness and isolation of its landscape.

Humorous, dark, and sometimes tragic, Guilbeault's fourteen stories wink at each other, bringing the reader into a larger narrative, one that brushes against the themes of loss; of love; of coming-of-age. Auto-fictive in essence, Guilbeault's writings press on memory's core, a place where imagination and truths mingle.

©2025 Nathalie Guilbeault (P)2026 Nathalie Guilbeault

Northern Reflections

Cold Chaos, Stories from the North is Nathalie Guilbeault’s debut short story collection, set in northern Quebec where she spent much of her adolescence. The fourteen interconnected stories explore life between the 49th and 55th parallels, capturing the region’s isolation, quiet beauty, and emotional intensity. Blending humor, darkness, and tragedy, the auto-fictive narratives weave themes of loss, love, and coming-of-age as memory and imagination intersect.

Author, Nathalie Guilbeault demonstrates a strong command of storytelling in this well-written collection. Each of the fourteen stories flows naturally into the next, blending together in a way that feels both intentional and seamless, while capturing the full range of emotions tied to tragedy, love, and the journey toward adulthood. Her descriptive writing beautifully highlights the landscape of northern Quebec, allowing readers to clearly picture the rugged beauty of the place that shaped these stories. The result is an engaging and immersive reading experience that draws the reader deeply into both the setting and the emotional lives of the characters.

The narrator, Ashley Pomeroy delivers a solid narration that further immerses the listener in the stories. Her clear delivery and dynamic tone, when appropriate, help bring the characters and moments to life. She conveys emotion effectively, and her smooth cadence—paired with well-placed pauses—adds emphasis to key moments and allows the narrative to breathe. Overall, her steady, well-balanced energy complements the material and enhances the listening experience.

This is an intriguing set of short stories that are captivating.

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