Joelle is about to lose her husband Marc, who has become obsessed with Ketia, a young Haitian woman. Ketia lies to her family to conceal her liaison with Marc. Joelle's friend Diane does not realise that her boyfriend Nazim has never told his Muslim family in Morocco about her. Then Nazim gets a letter that threatens his secret. Alice Zorn leads readers into the lives of a diverse cast of characters struggling with conflicting cultural values and the demands of intimacy. Set against the busy urban mosaic of Montreal, Arrhythmia is a study of betrayal: the large betrayals we commit against our loved ones, and the smaller ones we commit against ourselves.
Originally from Ontario, Alice Zorn now lives in Montreal. She has published short fiction in several magazines, including The New Quarterly, Room of One's Own, and Grain, most recently placing first in Prairie Fire's 2006 Fiction Contest. She participated in the Banff Writing Studio and the Quebec Writers' Federation Mentorship Program. She is currently at work on a novel set in Montreal and Morocco.