“The lines are tough and full of bones, like dried salmon, but respond well to chewing”: epic in size and scope, a posthumous volume grapples with literary and cultural inheritance, as well as the desecrations of BC’s colonial-capitalist history. —Harold Rhenisch reviews Recarving the Chrysoprase Bowl (The Book of Gates, Vol. 1), by Tom McGauley (Afterword by Luke Franklin) (Moncton: Galleon Books, 2025) $29.99 / 9781998122080
As Luba, a child in a remote Doukhobor community located in southern British Columbia, hides in a root cellar, she is flooded with memories of the harrowing events that led to her captivity. “The Invisible Child,” a short story by Denise Evdokimoff.
An “honourable and compassionate compendium of heartfelt statements from people who were willing to go to jail for their beliefs.” Sadly, it’s “over-long and at times tediously repetitive” too. —Ron Verzuh reviews Standing on High Ground: Civil Disobedience on Burnaby Mountain, edited by Rosemary Cornell, Adrienne Drobnies, and Tim Bray (Toronto: Between the Lines Books, 2024) $29.95 / 9781771136631
Debut volume of poetry exhibits “a clarity of intent and style fully mature and confident in its own power.” —Cathy Ford reviews Boundary Territory, by Renée Harper (Surrey: Now or Never Publishing, 2024) $19.95 / 9781989689776
“Remembering, as British writer George Orwell showed in his Homage to Catalonia, brings bloody thoughts to the surface and can unearth opposing memories. Spaner does not shy from including such moments and these add a tough realism to the novel.” —Ron Verzuh reviews Keefer Street, by David Spaner (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781553807209
A ‘fairy tale wedding’ provides a novelist with the opportunity to create “a chaotic, soul-baring, multi-generational family drama.” —Bill Paul reviews The Wedding, by Gurjinder Basran (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2024) $24.95 / 9781771624169
“In a regionalized case of a murder that occurred in the heart of British Columbia, deep in its rural country, Warren asks his readers to draw upon universal empathetic feelings of disgust at the crimes of Shearing and sympathy for those impacted.” —Matthew Downey reviews Murder Times Six: The True Story of the Wells Gray Park Murders, by Alan R. Warren (Self-published, 2020) $20.00 / 9781989980132
“It seems to me that Kevin’s book documents his research into myriad formal and semantic possibilities, engaging in a practice that endeavours to stretch poetic narratives and structures.” —Steven Ross Smith reviews A Bouquet Brought Back from Space, by Kevin Spenst (Vancouver: Anvil Press Publishers, 2024) $18.00 / 9781772142259
Uneven sophomore novel features sisters Rumer and Charlotte, “city girls fleeing parental bonds and disaffection with university studies.” —Trish Bowering reviews Hotel Beringia, by Mix Hart (New Westminster: Tidewater Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781990160387
A prettily-drawn, well-told tale about the founding of the famous gardens, but maybe a touch light on child-friendly details. —Ron Verzuh reviews Jennie Butchart: Gardener of Dreams, by Haley Healey (illustrated by Kimiko Fraser) (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $19.95 / 9781772034813
A poet “at the height of his powers” meditates on his literary tradition, provincial history, and aging. —Harold Rhenisch reviews The Capital City of Autumn, by Tim Bowling (Hamilton: Wolsak and Wynn, 2024) $20.00 / 9781989496862
Novel recreates life of a rural farm collective circa 1969…
Amy Whitmore reviews Commune, by Des Kennedy (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing 2023) $24.95 / 9781990776519
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
A Perfect Eden: Encounters by Early Explorers of Vancouver Island by Michael Layland Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2016 $39.95 / 9781771511773 Reviewed by Robin Fisher First published Mar. 3, 2017 * When I returned to the coast after a decade living on the prairies I settled initially on Vancouver Island. Speaking to a friend who had…
Read more #98 Early Island attachments
Hell’s History: The United Steelworkers’ Fight to Prevent Workplace Deaths and Injuries from the 1992 Westray Mine Disaster through 2016 by Tom Sandborn Vancouver: United Steelworkers, 2016 9780995843707 Out of print in hard copy but free digital copy available here. Reviewed by Ron Verzuh First published Mar. 1, 2017 * Tom Sandborn’s Hell’s History opens…
Read more #97 Getting away with murder
Belonging Métisby Catherine Richardson (Kinewesquao) Vernon: J. Charlton Publishing, 2016$30.00 / 9781926476070 Reviewed by Émilie Pigeon First published Feb. 28, 2017 * Despite being recognized as one of the three Aboriginal peoples of Canada in the Constitution Act of 1982, the Métis remain hard to define. From Vancouver Island to Labrador their Métisness can be…
Read more #96 Métis longing and belonging
I Had an Interesting French Artist to See Me This Summer: Emily Carr and Wolfgang Paalen in British Columbia by Colin Browne Vancouver: Figure 1, in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery, 2016 $24.95 / 9781927958780. Reviewed by Elisabeth Otto First published Feb. 27, 2017 * Writer, documentary filmmaker, and cultural historian Colin Browne has…
Read more #95 Wolfgang meets Emily
British Columbia’s Cariboo Chilcotin Coast: A Photographer’s Journey by Chris Harris 108 Mile Ranch: Chris Harris and Country Light Publishing, 2016 $39.95 / 9780986581847 Reviewed by Trevor Marc Hughes First published Feb. 24, 2017 * First photographer Ian McAllister helped identify and preserve The Great Bear Rainforest. Now photographer Chris Harris sees the Chilcotin Ark…
Read more #94 Empire of the Cariboo Chilcotin
Britannia’s Navy on the West Coast of North America, 1812-1914 by Barry Gough Victoria: Heritage House, 2016 $29.99 / 9781772031102 Reviewed by Howard Macdonald Stewart First published Feb. 23, 2017 * Readers will know that Barry Gough, British Columbia’s premier naval historian, is equally seadog and landlubber. His torrid pace in retirement has included major…
Read more #93 BC’s naval heritage
People of the Saltwater: An Ethnography of Git lax m’oonby Charles R. Menzies Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2016$45.00 (U.S.) / 9780803288089 Reviewed by Robert Muckle First published Feb. 22, 2017 * A pinch of sea salt goes with the territory… In People of the Saltwater, UBC anthropologist Charles Menzies provides an ethnography of…
Read more #92 Of salmon, herring and abalone