Justice and ‘vile things’
Debut novel examines a legacy of hetero-masculine violence…
Trish Bowering reviews She Who Burns, by Myrl Coulter (Altona: Friesen Press, 2023) $21.99 / 9781039166936
Fiction
Globetrotting historical novels a ‘dynastic tapestry’
Family revelations, social upheaval, and war’s brutality captured in historical fiction…
Vanessa Winn reviews ‘Destiny’ and ‘Legacy,’ by Valerie Green (Surrey: Hancock House, 2023) $24.95
Puzzles of the past
Prairies-set saga relates present to past…
Amy Whitmore reviews Leaving Wisdom, by Sharon Butala (Saskatoon: Thistledown Press, 2023) $24.95 / 9781771872362
Familial matters
Buoyant debut novel ponders manhood and Indigeneity…
Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Beautiful Beautiful, by Brandon Reid
(Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2023) $24.95 / 9780889714540
No. 2000 for the BC Review!
When we launched The British Columbia Review — then The Ormsby Review — in September 2016, little did we expect that seven years later we’d post our 2000th review. I’m grateful to everyone — reviewers, publishers, authors, booksellers, and readers — for making it such a success and promoting BC writers, writing, and culture. It…
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Stories explore ‘tropes of older womanhood’
Hopeful pictures of women at midlife and after… Carellin Brooks reviews Your Body Was Made For This, by Debbie Bateman (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2023) $21.95 / 9781553806929
A ‘deliciously dark and clever experiment’
Short fiction collection “succeeds beautifully.” Candace Fertile reviews Anecdotes, by Kathryn Mockler (Toronto: Book*hug, 2023) $23.00 / 9781771668446
Horror at 48 Ford Crescent
Tear by Erica McKeen Toronto: Invisible Books, 2022 $22.95 / 9781778430060 Reviewed by Myshara Herbert-McMyn * When Frances moves into 48 Ford Crescent with her roommates Ky, Katie, and Reese she knows that something is wrong with the house. This line from the first chapter explains her apprehension very well and sets the tone for…
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Story collection features whimsy and wit
Ten Stories that Worried My Mother by Winona Kent New Westminster: Blue Devil Books, 2023 $14.99 / 9781777329495 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Best known as a writer of cozy mystery novels, New Westminster’s Winona Kent has organized this eclectic collection of mostly previously published works (dating from the early 1980s to the 2020s) chronologically….
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‘Audacious? Yes. Dizzying? A little, yes.’
Run the Bead by Dustin Cole Berlin: Soyos Books, 2023 $18.99 (USD) / 9780645795851 Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski * Early in Dustin Cole’s sophomore novel, Run the Bead, the Vancouver author briefly draws attention to a minor character who writes science fiction under the pseudonym R.F. Hale. Much later, the author has his protagonist scan…
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From Alberta to Italy, in recovery
Grazie by Lucia Frangione Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2023 $21.95 / 9781772015089 Reviewed by Candace Fertile * Lucia Frangione’s debut novel, Grazie, captures how loss devastates the main character, Graziana or Grazie, who has mostly given up on life, even though she has a seven-year-old daughter, Hazel. The child desperately needs someone to notice and take care…
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Cpt. Sivart’s adventures in wonderland
Life at the Precipice by R.F. Vincent Victoria: FriesenPress, 2023 $20.99 / 9781039171497 Reviewed by Sheldon Goldfarb * There’s a long tradition of novels masquerading as true stories. Think of Robinson Crusoe. Or Lemuel Gulliver. Readers in 1726 were treated to the appearance of a book of travels by Captain Gulliver, who told of Lilliputians…
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1975 Ghoulish K-pop teen horror!!
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng New York: MacMillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2023 $26.99 / 9781250864994 Reviewed by Zoe McKenna * All that glitters is likelier ghoul than gold in Linda Cheng’s K-pop-inspired debut novel, Gorgeous Gruesome Faces. Cheng was born in Taiwan, though much of her adolescence was spent moving between different cultures and continents….
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1970 Calling Graduate Liberal Studies
Attention students in Graduate Liberal Studies at Simon Fraser University! * Since 2018, students in the Graduate Liberal Studies programme at Simon Fraser University have contributed numerous essays, memoirs, poems, and book reviews to The British Columbia Review. We at the BC Review are delighted to maintain a productive collaboration with the GLS community, as…
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1968 Genius brother, dead sister, MacGuffin, oh my!
Echo Lane by Sandra Kelly Edmonton: Stonehouse Publishing, 2023 $22.00 / 1988754453 Reviewed by Jessica Poon * Echo Lane by Invermere’s Sandra Kelly is an emotionally tense and compelling novel. The protagonist, Patsy, has lived an undeniably difficult life. Though she lives in Calgary, much of the present is occupied by thoughts of her past…
Read more 1968 Genius brother, dead sister, MacGuffin, oh my!
1964 Literary thriller, ‘by all accounts … thrilling’
Uncontrolled Flight by Frances Peck Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2023 $25.95 / 9781774390757 Reviewed by Caileigh Broatch * Frances Peck has once again written a story that will grip British Columbian’s fears and hearts. Her debut novel, The Broken Places, envisioned fall-out from the big earthquake predicted to hit the Vancouver area. Uncontrolled Flight’s catalyst is…
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1962 Murder mystery marred by typographic errors
The Palimpsest Murders–A European Travel Mystery by Reed Stirling Airdrie: BWL Publishing, 2023 $18.99 / 9780228626268 Reviewed by Valerie Green * Reed Stirling (Shades of Persephone) begins his book by giving readers the meaning of the word “palimpsest,” which features in his title. He explains: “Palimpsest—A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later…
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1960 ‘[T]ender and brutal … heartbreaking and hopeful’
In Search of April Raintree (Fortieth Anniversary Edition) by Beatrice Mosionier Winnipeg: HighWater Press, 2023 $22.95 / 9781774920916 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * To familiarize myself with In Search of April Raintree, a book a publicist had kindly sent to me that also revealed a surprise gap in my reading history, I first read…
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1957 Hardship and a sense of hope
Away From the Dead by David Bergen Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2023 $24.95 / 9781773103105 Reviewed by Trish Bowering * “She asked him to read to her. And so he did. And every evening after that, he picked up his book and read… The story was both simple and difficult. She said that normally people…
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1952 Heartbreak and ‘passages of such beauty’
The World is But a Broken Heart by Michael Maitland Winnipeg: Signature Editions, 2023 $19.95 / 9781773241296 Reviewed by Heidi Greco * As the title suggests, The World is But a Broken Heart is not a cheery book. In fact, the linked stories in this debut collection reveal a family for whom just…
Read more 1952 Heartbreak and ‘passages of such beauty’