Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2023 $22.95 / 9781551529110 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * Whenever film critics gripe about pop music biopics, “cliché-ridden” is standard fare. Considering a pop star’s ready-made chapters — juvenile precocity, discovery, rise and fall, triumphs and tragedies, and so on — over-reliance on…
Read more 1796 Rock ’n’ roll trans recall
Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age. A Canada West Anthology by Elizabeth Bass, Karen L. Abrahamson, and J.E. Barnard (editors), with a foreword by Gail Bowen Vancouver: Sisters in Crime (Canada West Chapter), 2022 $24.27 / 9781777246655 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Stories are not chapters of novels. They should not be read one…
Read more 1795 Move over, Miss Marple
The Runaway Heiress by Meg Tilly Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Berkley), 2021 $10.99 / 9780593201084 Reviewed by Valerie Green * Who better than an Oscar-nominated actress to write a story about the quirky, unconventional lifestyle of Hollywood? Author Meg Tilly does not disappoint us in her novel The Runaway Heiress. After an unconventional beginning…
Read more 1786 A first-rate thriller
Blood Atonement by S.M. Freedman Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2022 $22.95 / 9781459750241 Reviewed by Myshara Herbert-McMyn * S.M. Freedman‘s Blood Atonement is shocking and thrilling, terrifying from the moment you realize the broad accuracy of the events it describes the aftermath of. And of course, this is a situation where it pays to pay attention….
Read more 1783 Hooked from the start
The Whole Animal by Corinna Chong Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2023 $19.95 / 9781551529158 Reviewed by W.H. New * Corinna Chong’s first book, The Whole Animal, introduces a startling new writer, one who is drawn to the disruptions of contemporary life and clearly unafraid of using the blunt language of her generation. The characters here…
Read more 1781 Briefs
Knight of the Rails by Christine Welldon Toronto: Red Deer Press, 2022 $14.95 / 9780889956698 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Move Over Dickens: Meet a Canadian Pip and An Unusual Artful Dodger Novels for teenagers rarely cross my desk these days. In my youth I revelled in the adventures of the Hardy Boys until Mom…
Read more 1780 Move over Dickens
Double Karma by Daniel Gawthrop Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2023 $24.95 / 9781770866836 Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski * In many different ways Double Karma, by New Westminster writer Daniel Gawthrop, feels huge. Spanning decades, linking lives in the United States with lives in Burma (misleadingly called Myanmar by the military junta, as we learn) it is…
Read more 1777 Burmese disguises
Sunset and Jericho: A Wakeland Novel by Sam Wiebe Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2023 $24.95 / 9781990776236 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * Regarding Sunset and Jericho, an expected question might be “So, is it any good?” Happily, the unhesitant answer (“Yes, absolutely”) inspires a better follow-up: “Oh, what’s so worthwhile?” The easy reply is…
Read more 1774 Hardwired for defiance
Canada, By Jove by Betty Annand Airdrie, Alberta: BWL [Books We Love] Publishing, 2021 $16.99 / 9780228619437 (Amazon price and Amazon print ISBN) Also available as an eBook for $2.99 from these retailers Reviewed by Valerie Green * Betty Annand’s book, Canada, By Jove, is a charming tale of two young brothers, Ernest (Ernie) and…
Read more 1764 The adventures of Ernie and Bert
Sombrio by Rhonda Waterfall Guelph ON: Gordon Hill Press, 2022 $22.00 / 9781774220672 Reviewed by Steven Brown * Sombrio, by Rhonda Waterfall, is a dark tale of estrangement, paranoia, delusion and self-loathing, set to the tune of some kind of woodsy mystic opera, complete with the ethereal sound of singing off in the dark forest….
Read more 1762 Three on a beach
E.J. Hughes: Canadian War Artist by Robert Amos Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2022 $35.00 / 9781771513852 Reviewed by Peter Clarke * Few artists have been so quintessentially identified with the West Coast as E.J. Hughes. At the time of his death in 2007 he had long been known as a reclusive figure living at Shawnigan Lake…
Read more 1760 E.J. Hughes: the formative years
Announcing the BC Review interview series by Richard Mackie * In November 2022, at the most recent board meeting of the Ormsby Literary Society, the chair, Byron Sheardown, suggested that we open a YouTube channel and start an interview series. Board member Trevor Marc Hughes jumped at the suggestion. “I’ve got filmmaking experience,” he said,…
Read more 1757 Announcing interview series
Uncertain Kin by Janice Lynn Mather Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Doubleday Canada), 2022 $29.95 / 9780385697156 Reviewed by Alison Acheson * A dusty rooster and a badly tuned radio woke Priscilla just before six. It’s perfect detail that draws you in to Janice Lynn Mather’s world. Once there (with one exception, a story of…
Read more 1755 God on the dock
Why I’m Here: A Novel by Jill Frayne Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2022 $21.95 / 9781774390498 Reviewed by Valerie Green * Jill Frayne’s book Why I’m Here is a combination of the strong pull of family, overwhelming heartache and puzzling mystery. The book is a compelling read set against the fierce splendour of the Yukon. The…
Read more 1752 The hold of place and family
The Porcelain Moon: A Novel of France, the Great War, and Forbidden Love by Janie Chang Toronto: HarperCollins Canada (William Morrow), 2023 $24.99 / 9780063072862 Reviewed by Candace Fertile * While historical romance is not my preferred genre, I was immediately gripped by Janie Chang’s fourth novel, The Porcelain Moon, not so much for the…
Read more 1747 A lovely sense of place & time
This Unlikely Soil by Andrea Routley Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2022 $24.95 / 9781773860985 Reviewed by Amy Reiswig * Anyone who has spent time in a BC forest knows it can be hard to navigate. Spaces between tall trunks are filled with thick tangles of salal, huckleberry, and ferns, and the way forward is strewn…
Read more 1746 Much grows in shadow
Mother Tongue Publishing Limited: Trade Books and Limited Editions 1995-2021 Salt Spring Island, 2022 Available here for $10.00 including postage A special report by Phyllis Parham Reeve * Mona Fertig has retired. How can that be? For more than 40 years Mona has been a force of nature in BC’s literary community. First, there was…
Read more 1743 Mother Tongue bites its tongue
Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2022 $12.95 / 9781459835580 Reviewed by Cassidy Jean * Growing up is tough. Crushes, hormones, and the expectations that come with going from child to “preteen” are difficult to navigate. Add to that racial tensions, and growing up as an Indigenous girl in the…
Read more 1736 Weird rules we all follow
The Secret of Bell Island by Mike Phelan Victoria: FriesenPress, 2021 $28.99 / 9781039127296 Reviewed by Valerie Green * This author has written a very thought-provoking story set on Bell Island in Newfoundland during two time periods – the Second World War and the present-day — which also makes for an intriguing narrative of a…
Read more 1732 Bell Island intrigue
See You Later Maybe Never by Lenore Rowntree Surrey: Now or Never Publishing, 2022 $19.95 / 9781989689400 Reviewed by Amy Whitmore * What does a tough, creative woman do when she retires to join her husband (and to avoid accepting her new “ageist” position in the fashion industry) in his retirement? Turn into a lust-struck…
Read more 1730 The Vanessa papers