Troll By Logan Macnair Vancouver: Now Or Never Press, 2023 19.95 / 9781989689479 Reviewed by Jessica Poon * I used to work in an indie bookstore that would not stock Jordan Peterson’s books. At the time, I was miraculously ignorant about Peterson’s existence; life was 3.5% better. When I realized why my former boss staunchly…
Read more 1883 Like ‘signing a waiver to having your blood pressure raised’
Someday I’ll Find You By C.C. Humphreys Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2023 $25.00 / 9780385690515 Reviewed by Valerie Green * Loosely based on his parents’ true story, C.C. Humphreys has produced an enthralling page-turner set in World War 2—it’s a novel you will not be able to put down. Someday I’ll Find You tells the story…
Read more 1877 Love, cloak-and-dagger espionage, and WW2
Ukrainian Scorpions: A Tale of Larceny and Greed by Grand Chief Ronald M. Derrickson Toronto: ECW Press, 2023 $28.95 / 9781770415676 Reviewed by Larry Hannant * Their proxy war in Ukraine against Russia floundering, the Western War Heads have been able to retain their mastery only on one crucial front line – propaganda. At least…
Read more 1868 An inconvenient tale of Ukraine
Tides of the Sovereign By Kate Gateley Victoria: FriesenPress, 2022 $37.99 / 9781039126572 Reviewed by Myshara Herbert-McMyn * Kate Gateley’s debut novel Tides of the Sovereign is a tale a millennium in the making. Julia and Domhnall are fated lovers kept apart lifetime after lifetime when they’re cursed by the infamous Child of Rome: Cassius…
Read more 1866 Magic, curses, and prophecies
Scandal at the Savoy: A Priscilla Tempest Mystery (Book 2) by Ron Base & Prudence Emery Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 2023 $19.95 / 1771623452 Reviewed by Amy Whitmore * “Our Savoy… is populated by made-up characters who exist only in the world that we shaped for them. The royal, rich and famous who…
Read more 1863 Quick plot, too many twists
Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2022 $32.00 / 9781982158804 Reviewed by Valerie Green * In Our American Friend, Whistler, BC-born author Anna Pitoniak (Necessary People) has produced a political thriller second to none. This fast-paced, page-turner tells the story of White House Correspondent, Sofie Morse, who has become jaded…
Read more 1860 A Cold War thriller
Cardboard City By Katarina Jovanovic Afterword by Hedina Tahirović-Sijerčić Vancouver, BC: Tradewind Books, 2023 $14.95 / 9781990598104 Reviewed by Caileigh Broatch * In 2009, Katarina Jovanovic published a novel titled Kartonac. In English, this title translates to “cardboard box.” Now, as of June 15, 2023, Jovanovic has translated her novel into Cardboard City. This middle…
Read more 1857 A ‘deeply heartwarming’ YA novel
Storylines: How Words Shape Our World by J. Edward Chamberlin Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 2023 $26.95 / 9781771623513 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * British novelist D.H. Lawrence once quipped that readers should trust the tale and not the teller. What did he mean? Prof emeritus J. Edward Chamberlin offers some possible answers in…
Read more 1853 Trust the tale not the teller?
Frances Barkley: Eighteenth-century Seafarer by Cathy Converse Victoria: Heritage House, 2023 $12.95 / 9781772034417 Reviewed by Dave Flawse * Frances and Captain Charles Barkley navigated the Imperial Eagle into Nootka Sound in June 1787. The wife, husband, and crew sailed across the globe through storms and pirate-infested waters to procure a seemingly humble item—sea otter…
Read more 1826 An adventurous couple
Welcome Trevor and Brett by Richard Mackie * On behalf of the Board of the Ormsby Literary Society and our Advisory Board I’d like to welcome Trevor Marc Hughes and Brett Josef Grubisic as interim editors of The British Columbia Review for the year May 1, 2023 to May 1, 2024. The position was made possible…
Read more 1813 Welcome Trevor and Brett
Ruby Red Skies by Taslim Burkowicz Halifax and Winnipeg: Roseway Publishing an imprint of Fernwood Publishing, 2022 $24.00 / 9781773635606 Reviewed by Steven Brown * Ruby is not happy. She feels taken for granted by both husband and daughter. Her opinions don’t matter. Her husband talks down to her, openly mocks her, is oblivious to…
Read more 1810 Intrigue, then and now
Workboats for the World: The Robert Allan Story by Robert G. Allan, with Peter A. Robson, and with a foreword by Peter G. Noble Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2022 $99.95 / 9781550179873 Reviewed by Phyllis Reeve * The ferry George Black has plied the waters of the Yukon River between Dawson City and Alaska since…
Read more 1806 All the world’s a harbour
Between Good and Evil: The Stolen Girls of Boko Haram by Mellissa Fung Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2023 $36.99 / 9781443456081 Reviewed by Isabel Nanton * Canadian Journalist Mellissa Fung has written an important book which amplifies her documentary Captive, the story of three Nigerian girls captured by Boko Haram (which translates as “Western education is…
Read more 1785 Lost in Sambisa Forest
Century of White Pass & Yukon Route Equipment by Carl E. Mulvihill, edited by Keith Nore Whitehorse: Yukon Transportation Museum, 2022 $59.00 / 9781777544317 Reviewed by Robert D. Turner * The White Pass & Yukon Route’s fascinating international railway has a history going back to the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon. It was built…
Read more 1784 Along the White Pass & Yukon
In Our Youth: The Lives, Adventures, and Sacrifices of Early Canadian Flyers by Angus Scully Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2022 $29.95 / 9781772034219 Reviewed by Matthew Downey * In In Our Youth, Angus Scully of the Vancouver Island Military Museum tasks himself with an ambitious mission: to evoke the history of Canadian aviation in the…
Read more 1779 Canada’s Great War airmen
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
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
Built on a Dream An audio piece by Anne Watson * Introduction. Built on a Dream includes the voices of a narrator, a storyteller, and a historian. Positionality and self-conscious awareness matter in this experimental piece. I’ve written it different ways over the years: this is my first attempt using multiple voices. Pierre Bourdieu’s “Biographical…
Read more 1745 Built on a Dream
On editorial illustration by Mariken Van Nimwegen * “You were an editorial illustrator? So you did the cartoons in the newspaper?” Well no, I say. Cartooning is a genre of drawing that’s usually part of the editorial pages where it satirizes a current news item, either local or international, and tends to be positioned close…
Read more 1739 The art of editorial illustration