Quincunx Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Pastoral |
2014 |
Buy |
| Fifteen Dogs |
2015 |
Buy |
| The Hidden Keys |
2016 |
Buy |
| Days by Moonlight |
2019 |
Buy |
| Ring |
2021 |
Buy |
Short Stories / Novellas#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| A |
2013 |
Buy |
Short Story Collections#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa |
1994 |
Buy |
| The Night Piece |
1999 |
Buy |
| Other Worlds: Stories |
2025 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Childhood |
1998 |
Buy |
| Ingrid and the Wolf |
2005 |
Buy |
| Asylum |
2008 |
Buy |
Standalone Plays#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Lambton Kent |
1999 |
Buy |
Andre Alexis was born in Trinidad in 1957 and grew up in Ottawa, Canada. He published his first book, Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa, in 1994, a collection of short fiction that earned a Commonwealth Prize shortlisting. His debut novel Childhood (1998) won the Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Book Award while also being shortlisted for the Giller Prize.
Alexis is best known for the Quincunx Cycle, a set of five novels published between 2014 and 2021. Each book stands alone but is connected thematically to the others, with each one exploring a different aspect of human experience through a distinct literary form. Fifteen Dogs (2015), in which the Greek gods grant human consciousness to a group of dogs in Toronto, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the 2017 edition of Canada Reads. In addition to his novels, Alexis has written short story collections and a play called Lambton Kent, as well as the children’s book Ingrid and the Wolf. He lives in Toronto.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Andre Alexis written?
Andre Alexis has written thirteen books across five series.
What was Andre Alexis's first book?
Andre Alexis’s first book is Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa, published in 1994.
What is Andre Alexis's Quincunx Cycle about?
The Quincunx Cycle is a series of five thematically linked novels, each exploring a different subject (faith, place, love, power, and hatred) through a different literary genre. The novels are Pastoral, Fifteen Dogs, The Hidden Keys, Days by Moonlight, and Ring.