The British Columbia Review | Page 2 of 136 | Books and Culture of British Columbia

What would Gillies and Kye do?

Keeping a specific audience in mind, a debut author “offers a good starting point for teens to navigate the challenges they come across. Ultimately, [her book] aims to create empathetic humans who will treat each conflict as an opportunity to grow and mature. And in that, I think Henningson and the book succeed.” —Sophia Wasylinko reviews White Space, Gray Areas & Black Swans: Stories of Getting Along (or Not), by Donna M. Henningson (Altona: Friesen Press, 2024) $25.99 / 9781038303325

Optimism in looking to history

“In Humans, Finkel leads us through a breathtaking sweep of 300,000 years of human history. He starts with early hunter and gatherer societies that, being egalitarian, co-operative, and peaceful, reflected intrinsic human nature. Those societies, he continues, have much to teach us.” Robin Fisher reviews Humans: The 300,000-Year Struggle for Equality, by Alvin Finkel (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 2025) $25.95 / 9781459419544

‘IF THE INVADER COMES’

WWII-set prequel to a book series portrays an unexpected spying assignment for young Lane Winslow. And Christmas with her grandparents! Rousing and entertaining, it’s a tale Alfred Hitchcock would have relished. —Bill Engleson reviews A Season for Spies—A Lane Winslow Prequel, by Iona Whishaw (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2025) $19.95 / 9781771514828

On reflection, on resilience

“The challenge in creating the exhibition Eating Bitterness: The Canadian Journey from Exclusion to Inclusion was to develop a temporary travelling exhibition which tells the story of the Chinese Exclusion Act in an original, more hopeful way. At the same time, we wanted to raise awareness of the barriers that are faced by the Chinese Canadian community and other communities that need to be overcome.” Christine Cheung reflects on the Eating Bitterness: The Canadian Journey from Exclusion to Inclusion exhibition, currently at the Victoria Chinatown Museum until October 26.

‘Looking over my shoulder’

Delightful while sobering and illuminating, a memoir-in-verse celebrates pop music as it revisits cultural history and queer coming-of-age in the ’80s and ’90s. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Soundtrack: A Lyric Memoir, by Michael V. Smith (Toronto: Book*hug, 2025) $24.95 / 9781771669498

‘Art in the ruins of the world’

In pensive dialogue with twentieth-century history, and with Robert Polidari’s photographs of New Orleans and Chernobyl, a poet outlines the politics of catastrophes as well as their aftermaths. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Long Exposure, by Stephanie Bolster (Windsor: Palimpsest Press, 2025) $21.95 / 9781997508014

‘Because I am the girl’

“The title’s invocation of Van Gogh’s painting proves apt. Like the artist’s swirling night sky, Mootoo’s prose contains turbulence within careful composition. The result resembles pointillism: individual impressions that cohere into recognizable forms only when viewed from proper distance.” —Selena Mercuri reviews. Starry Starry Night, by Shani Mootoo (Toronto: Book*hug Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781771669566

Watch your language

“That pièce de résistance of mine was a bit outré, a bit de trop no doubt, more a jeu d’esprit than a tour de force. However, it does make the point that great herds of French words are roaming at large through the English language, often with totally different meanings from those they have in French. Etiquette for instance simply means a label in French. How many of these terms are current also in contemporary US or Canadian, Australian, or New Zealand English? I don’t know. I simply am not au courant.” Christopher Levenson contributes the essay On Permanent Loan to The British Columbia Review.

Lessons learned, relearned

“Lovers of the short story should rush right out and get their hands on Victoria writer Terence Young’s new collection. I was utterly captivated by these stories that gently probe ordinary life with grace and insight.” —Candace Fertile reviews Give Us This Day, by Terence Young (Winnipeg: Signature Editions, 2025) $21.95 / 9781773241616

Through ‘the lens of late adulthood’

Venerable poet “delivers an impressive thirteenth poetry book,” “a collection that is not only evocative and visceral but masterfully precise, honouring its namesake (a reference to the formerly common training routine of figure skaters to practice control, precision, and balance).” —Brooke Lee reviews Compulsory Figures, by John Barton (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2025) $20.00 / 9781773861661

The leavings of human activity

“On the subject of misconceptions the author explains what archaeology is and what it isn’t. Archaeology is the story of the human past based on the things left behind by humans. It isn’t treasure hunting or looking for dinosaur bones with the thrill of digging around in the ground. Archaeology is part of the heritage industry. If a study isn’t based on humans and what is left from human activity it isn’t archaeology.” Steven Brown reviews Once upon This Land: Archaeology in British Columbia and the Stories It Tells, by Robert J. Muckle (Vancouver: Purich Books, 2025) $29.95 / 9780774881081

The cowboy cameraman

“Kean’s Canada Films was becoming a familiar brand to Vancouver moviegoers. A. D. responded to a limited market by diversifying his subject matter: local industries, the war effort, civic celebrations, and soft news items.” Dennis J. Duffy contributes the essay “The Famous Cowboy Artist”: A. D. Kean in Vancouver, 1913–1916

Strange landscapes

Ruminative and speculative, a debut story collection is diverse in subject, time, and character as it ponders “the limits of personal agency to reconcile with landscapes that are altered or altering beyond the capacity of any individual to influence.” —Dana McFarland reviews The Other Shore, by Rebecca Campbell (Hamilton: Stelliform Press, 2025) $21.00 / 9781998466016

‘On the edge of the world’

What follows after an epic coastal earthquake, with a staggering body count and collapsed infrastructure? A sophomore novel with magic realist elements explores the question in a way that’s “that’s well-told, and in an unconventional manner as it whips us from one timeframe to another without ever leaving us behind.” —Heidi Greco reviews Ladder to Heaven, by Katie Welch (Hamilton: Wolsak & Wynn, 2025) $26.00 / 9781998408276

Legacies, patterns, and cycles

In a complex, wide-ranging novel with themes related to family, violence, and cultural identity, generations of women strive for peace and contentment despite the sorrowful, imposing outside world. —Theo Dombrowski reviews Songs from This and That Country, by Gail Sidone Šobat (Winnipeg: Great Plains Publishing, 2025) $27.95 / 9781773371412

A ‘family of struggling souls’

With her late-Victorian setting on Vancouver Island, a debut novelist “clearly takes much care in constructing her story, using metaphor effectively to enhance the reader’s appreciation of the wilderness setting and the lengthy cast of characters.” Despite the successes, the novel proved confounding on occasion for our reviewer. —Ron Verzuh reviews A Snake and a Feathered Bird, by Angie Ellis (Saskatoon: Thistledown Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781771872812

‘Poison on top of poison’

In a “brutally frank, but also hopeful” novel that “nail[s] the adolescent voice—there’s plenty of profanity, a touch of irreverence, and no small amount of self-deprecation,” a teenage girl struggles to manage her compulsions and find equilibrium. —Jessica Poon reviews A Drop in the Ocean, by Léa Taranto (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2025) $19.95 / 9781551519813

An enforcer’s loving heart

“Gino presents a nuanced, heartwarming, and unsettling portrait of a man who was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame two years before his death and honoured in 2015 with an Indspire Award for his work educating Indigenous youth. Odjick comes off as a complex individual, a cultural bridge builder whose positive influence was far reaching despite his many challenges.” Daniel Gawthrop reviews Gino: The Fighting Spirit of Gino Odjick, by Patrick Johnston and Peter Leech (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2025)
$44.95 / 9781778402708

Bold vision for economic reconciliation

“As an educator and researcher, I see Indigenomics as a necessary text for anyone working in reconciliation, governance, business, or education. Hilton challenges us to move beyond tokenism and toward meaningful economic inclusion. ‘Indigenomics is an invitation to align economic practice with understanding how the universe and humanity interact.'” Doctoral candidate Amy Tucker reviews Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economic Table, by Carol Anne Hilton (Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2021) $21.99 / 9780865719408

‘Vancouver as a liveable space’

“Surviving Vancouver…is a reckoning with that lost history. The word in the title divides the book into two parts. Surviving as an adjective refers to the buildings and cityscapes that somehow managed to survive the past century of booms and depressions, immigrations, and globalization; whereas surviving as a verb deals with the social divides in a city – and province – where sheer survival is a daily challenge for far too many people.” Peter Hay reviews Surviving Vancouver by Michael Kluckner (Vancouver: Midtown Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781988242545

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