The British Columbia Review | Books and Culture of British Columbia

Holding the monster at bay

“Messamore doesn’t predict such potential outcomes. Her job, and she does it well, is to reveal the historical facts about early 20th-century elections. But we may be seeing parallels to our political past in the run-up to our April 28 federal election. Will Mark Carney be Mackenzie King and Pierre Poilievre Arthur Meighan?” Ron Verzuh reviews Times of Transformation: The 1921 Canadian General Election, by Barbara J. Messamore (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2025) $19.56 / 9780774870597

Discovering the explored

“Blanchet’s writing epitomises the provincial stereotype as the home of aspirant eccentrics, philosophically ponderous lumberjacks, and hopeless romantics seeking to carve out a small, domesticated presence in the dense rainforest. Blanchet’s representation of British Columbia, in which urban settlement is an exception to the cultural status quo, still resonates today…” Matthew Downey reviews The Curve of Time: New, Expanded Edition, by M. Wylie Blanchet (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $19.95 / 9781990776786

‘Being in relationship with place’

“Joseph’s book is more than a field guide to plants. It reflects her philosophy and love of nature.” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews Held By The Land: A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness, by Leigh Joseph (New York: Wellfleet Press, 2023) $24.99 / 9781577152941 & Held by the Land Deck: 45 Ways to Use Indigenous Plants for Healing and Nourishment, by Leigh Joseph (New York: Wellfleet Press, 2024) $19.99 / 9781577154440

After the (second) American Civil War

“We Are Dreams in the Eternal Machine demonstrates Béchard’s skill for thoughtful, purposeful prose in full force. Though the subject matter is challenging, and the structure is purposefully complex, elegant writing and earnest character development propel the story forward.” —Zoe McKenna reviews We Are Dreams in the Eternal Machine, by Deni Ellis Béchard (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2025) $25.99 / 9781487013356

Unveiling the depths

“More than just a travel guide, Ellison’s book is an invitation to embrace an underrated adventure that reveals a world teeming with vibrant marine life, from giant Pacific octopuses to fields of colorful anemones and elusive nudibranchs.” Amy Tucker reviews Snorkelling Adventures Around Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands: The Ultimate Guide, by Sara Ellison (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2023) $26.95 / 9781990776151

39 good reasons to read

10 poems + 10 personal essays + 10 flash fictions + 9 short stories = 39 strong arguments for reading this appealing volume of literature. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Roots To Branches Volume 3: Federation of British Columbia Writers 2023 Anthology, selected by JJ Lee, Finnian Burnett, Kerry Gilbert, and Norma Dunning (Courtney: Federation of BC Writers Press, 2025) $17.95 / 9781069008701

Empire’s remote rural estate outpost

“This is Taylor’s third architectural biography. His previous two were The Spencer Mansion: A House, A Home and an Art Gallery and The Birdcages: British Columbia First Legislative Buildings 1859-1857. In terms of its topic, the book nestles between two previous volumes, Peter Cotton’s architectural exploration of the two Cary Castles that preceded the present 1958 Government House, Vice Regal Mansions of British Columbia, and Government House: The Ceremonial Home of All British Columbians by Rosemary Neering and Tony Owen which primarily focuses on the current house. Martin Segger reviews Between Heaven and Balmoral: A History of Cary Castle, British Columbia’s First Government House 1860-1899, by Robert Ratcliffe Taylor (Victoria: Friesen Press, 2024) $17.49 / 9781039184534

A good new reason to skip the mall

A poet’s first novel features a cult, an abandoned mall, and a self-aggrandizing billionaire. It also ponders “how we cope with loss and tragedy, how we negotiate feelings of regret, and how these burdens can weigh upon us in ways that shape our trajectories.” —Logan Macnair reviews The Very Good Best Friend, by Taryn Hubbard (Surrey: Now Or Never Publishing, 2025) $26.95 / 9781989689820

Victoria’s story through historical fiction

“In this interview segment, Vanessa Winn tells The British Columbia Review about how her research into British Columbia’s historical characters, such as Catherine Work and Charles Wentworth Wallace, and more famed figures in the fur trade such as William Fraser Tolmie, makes vibrant and energizes aspects of Victoria’s early colonial and settler history.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview with Victoria author Vanessa Winn

What influenced Jack Shadbolt?

“From the sexual imagery of butterflies, to the confused and chaotic state of mind brought on by natural landscape and creatures found in them, to the exploration of potential structure shown in consequential panels, Shadbolt appears to have been an artist who not only absorbed the natural world in the place called British Columbia but also attempted to describe the state of mind it created within him.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Jack Shadbolt: In His Words by Susan M. Mertens (ed.) (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $40 / 9781773272559

Sharing the harvest

Bilingual—Tla’amin and English—picture book “inspires us to be more sharing, community-minded, and aware of nature’s abundance (and the importance of preserving it).” —Ron Verzuh reviews laget hiyt toxwum (Herring to Huckleberries), by ošil (Betty Wilson) (illustrated by Prashant Miranda) (Winnipeg: Highwater Press, 2025) $24.95 / 978177492118

‘Mix of memoir and illustrations’

“He lived to the ripe old age of 100 and his years of ‘hardship, laughter, and recycling’ have been delightfully told by his daughter in this little book about a man simply known as Scrappy Jack.” Valerie Green reviews Scrappy Jack: 100 Years of Hardship, Laughter, and Recycling by Joan Steacy (Vancouver: Midtown Press, 2023) $24.95 / 9781988242521

Quests and complications

Debut novel traces the personal evolution of a young woman who has moved from Alberta to Haida Gwaii. Buoyed by some intriguing characters and vivid descriptions of nature, the plot is thwarted by a complicated busyness.
—Candace Fertile reviews A Room in the Forest, by Heather Ramsay (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $25.00 / 9781773861678

Revisiting psychogeography

“Books are involved, of course; but there’s a lot about compassion, charity, about how one becomes beloved. Wosk is an ordained rabbi: you don’t share these stories without knowing how they are practiced.” Trevor Carolan reviews New Life Joke Shop: Travels and Observations by Yosef Wosk (Victoria, Ekstasis Editions, 2025) $ TBA / 9781771715805

A world in a drop of rain

“This is what one of our master poets wants to give us now that he is an elder—this ordinariness of poetry, its roots in people, and the role of a poet as the defender of human connection, even with seemingly non-human things.”
—Harold Rhenisch reviews Out of the Ordinary: New Poems, by Tom Wayman (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025) $22.95 / 9781998526123

Do we know the man?

“Díaz literally projects herself into the biography, frequently adding her own experiences to information about Fortes she presents. If the reader is aware of the facts known about Fortes, they do not come to know him any better or more than before she produced this biography. It is a memoir of her search, her overlay of her daily lived experiences onto the life of a man dead now more than one hundred years.” Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim “Joe” Fortes, by Ruby Smith Díaz (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025) $21.95 / 9781551529752

Recognition and epiphany

“Between the Bell Struck and the Silence contains poems of immense beauty while the speaker seeks redemption for psychological injuries of the past and finds it in nature. Porter’s deft handling of ‘a music of imagery’ (to borrow T.S. Eliot’s term), and her pitch-perfect tone makes this collection a poignant and rewarding read.” —gillian harding-russell reviews Between the Bell Struck and the Silence, by Pamela Porter (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2024) $20.00 /9781773861418

The marriage trap

“In a thriller populated with criminals and, possibly, a ghost, the scariest thing in this book is their marriage.” —Jessica Poon reviews Every Fall, by Angela Douglas (Toronto: Rising Action, 2025) $25.99/9781998076819

‘Weeding, planting, cultivating, and pruning’

“Along Came a Gardener serves as a reminder that personal growth is not linear. Like nature itself, there are seasons of progress and setbacks, of flourishing and dormancy. Stevan reassures readers that moments of stagnation are not failures but necessary pauses in the journey of self-improvement.” Selena Mercuri reviews Along Came a Gardener, by Diana Stevan (Campbell River: Island House Publishing, 2025) $21.95 / 9781988180229

‘Speak up and acknowledge’

“Transforming Trauma through Social Change is a nutrient-dense book of 330 pages. It deserves slow careful reading if you wish to secure a very rich education in becoming trauma-informed, through the cultural medium of storytelling. The book’s literary scaffolding is academic and therapeutic, inviting a growth mindset that encourages social and personal change in readers.” Lee Reid reviews Transforming Trauma Through Social Change: A Guide for Educators, by Theresa Southam, PhD (Santa Barbara, CA: Fielding University Press, 2024) $36.24 / 9798991258012

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