Darkness at Dhoon Woods
Debut horror novelist conveys the “tingle and rattle of fear” but wears his influences on his sleeve. —Bill Paul reviews Arlya, by Jack Lowe-Carbell (Victoria: Tellwell Talent, 2024) $24.99 / 9781779410979
Tag: Canadian literature
An Everywoman for Iran’s last century
Debut novelist “explores the meaning of love, family loyalty, the struggle for self-expression, and devotion to homeland in times of constant upheaval.” —Daniel Gawthrop reviews Zulaikha, by Niloufar-Lily Soltani (Toronto: Inanna Publications, 2023) $24.95 / 9781771339568
A ‘soap opera in the best way possible’
WWII-set debut novel, a love triangle where the “tension is deliciously gravid.” —Jessica Poon reviews The Cure for Drowning, by Loghan Paylor (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2024) $24.95 / 9781039006454
Cossacks, clairvoyance, and revenge
Historical fiction where the “compelling characters and exciting plot never falter.” —Valerie Green reviews The Jazz Club Spy, by Roberta Rich (Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2023) $24.99 / 9781982187729
Love after the (intergalactic) war
An “exhilarating” sci-fi epic whose “each page is a gift.” —Zoe McKenna reviews Shadow Matter, by S.W. Mayse (Calgary: Tyche Books, 2023) $24.99 / 9781989407554
Hard knock lives, revisited
Two poets tackle social margins and underbellies. —Joe Enns reviews A Brief Relief From Hunger, by Spenser Smith (Guelph: Gordon Hill Press, 2023) $20.00 / 9781774220986 and Fishing for Leviathan, by Rodney DeCroo (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2023) $18.00 / 9781772142136
Labour disputes and love stories
Two plays give “readers a welcome new perspective on BC community life.” —Ron Verzuh reviews The Ballad of Ginger Goodwin & Kitimat, by Elaine Ávila (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2023) $19.95 / 9781772014471
A ‘timely and essential’ kids’ book
Enchanting book ‘demonstrates a constructive way to go through the world.’
Alison Acheson reviews Emi and Mini, by Hanako Masutani (with illustrations by Stéphane Jorisch) (Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2023) $21.95 / 9781926890203
Mages, time travel, a telepathic cat
Debut fantasy novel reveals both promise and flaws. —Sheldon Goldfarb reviews Strands of Time and Magic, by Andrew Platten (Seattle: Amazon, 2023) $19.99 / 9781738101603
Challenging ‘what the white man want’
Memoirist’s debut novel traces one man’s life-altering experiences in northern BC. —Theo Dombrowski reviews A Season in Chezgh’un, by Darrel J. McLeod
(Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2023) $24.95 / 9781771623629
Illness and ‘the hardness of love’
Poet explores an “illness of the mind” and its effects within a family.
Daniela Elza reviews In the Blood, by Alan Hill (Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2022) $20.00 / 9781773860787
Desperately seeking Azy
Sophomore novel features a “brash anti-hero moving through an eerie, gothic landscape.” —Bill Paul reviews The Father of Rain, by Martin West (Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2023) $22.95 / 9781772142105
Avant garde, inventive, tricky, ‘at times infuriating’
Pondering an “innovative homage to other innovators in poetry.”
Peter Babiak reviews Broken Glosa: An Alphabet Book of Post-Avant Glosa, by Stephen Bett (Tucson: Chax Press, 2023) $32.35 / 9781946104427
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
#187 Brother, where art thou?
Brother Toronto: Penguin Random House (McClelland & Stewart), 2017 by David Chariandy $25 hc ISBN 978-0-7710-2290-6 reviewed by Cherie Thiessen First published October 23, 2017 * The only author nominated for both the Giller and Rogers Writers Trust Fiction awards in 2017 is David Chariandy, whose second novel, Brother, concerns two siblings growing up in…
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#172 Highland Clearances to BC
First published September 18, 2017 REVIEW: The Nor’ Wester by David Starr Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2017. $11.95 978-1-55380-493-2 Reviewed by Steve Pocock David Starr’s The Nor’Wester, for young readers, introduces us to fifteen-year-old Duncan Scott, a young highlander evicted with his sister and parents from their rural cottage during the Highland Clearances in the early nineteenth…
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#16 Significant B.C. literature to 1997
Significant B.C. literature to 1997 by Alan Twigg First Published: September 16th, 2016 * There is no critical study of B.C. writing to date, no critical overview; no statistics. Here then, to mark the tenth anniversary at B.C. BookWorld in 1997, here is a checklist for 200 of the most significant B.C. books of the…
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