Tofino and Clayoquot Sound: A History Margaret Horsfield and Ian Kennedy Harbour Publishing 640 pages; $36.95 Reviewed by Margaret Thompson The cover image of this handsome book captures the kind of seascape the names Tofino and Clayoquot Sound immediately evoke: the huge pale sky, a broad stretch of golden sand punctuated by tide pools, waves […]
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Dr. Barry Gough is a noted historian and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society recognized for his scrupulous research and engaging narratives. He is the author of many books, including Juan de Fuca’s Strait: Voyages in the Waterways of Forgotten Dreams and Fortune’s a River: The Collision of Empires in Northwest America (Harbour, 2007) which […]
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Orca’s The Seven Sequels Sleeper by Eric Walters; Broken Arrow by John Wilson; Coda by Ted Staunton; The Wolf and Me by Richard Scrimger; From the Dead by Norah McClintock; Tin Soldier by Sigmund Brouwer; Double You by Shane Peacock Orca Book Publishers By Margaret Thompson When Orca published the original Seven series in 2012, few could […]
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The Pull of the Moon by Julie Paul Brindle & Glass, 2014 $19.95; 184 pages Reviewed by Margaret Thompson If fiction serves to map what makes us human, the short story may represent those small regions, shown in contrasting colour to demonstrate their position vis à vis the larger country or continent, and magnified to […]
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The Deaf House By Joanne Weber Thistledown Press 274 pages; $18.95 Reviewed by Margaret Thompson There is a prefatory Note to The Deaf House by Joanne Weber that explains the difference between deaf/Deaf and hearing/Hearing as they are used in the narrative. For many readers this may well be their introduction to points of view […]
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Mr. Selden’s Map of China By Timothy Brook House of Anansi Press 211 pages; $29.95 Reviewed by Margaret Thompson The key word in the subtitle of Timothy Brook’s work of historical detection, Mr Selden’s Map of China, is “decoding.” Even at the most superficial level the map is fascinating; for an expert on the history […]
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Cadillac Cathedral By Jack Hodgins Ronsdale Press 213 pages; $18.95 Reviewed by Margaret Thompson In his latest novel, Cadillac Cathedral, Jack Hodgins takes us back to familiar territory, the Macken world of mid-Vancouver Island. He recreates Portuguese Creek, a tiny community off the beaten track and populates it with what would have to be called […]
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The Wind is not a River By Brian Payton Harper Collins $29.99; 308 pages Reviewed by Margaret Thompson War has provided storytellers with material for thousands of years. Whatever one’s viewpoint, there is a terrible fascination in extremes; for fiction writers, examining the best and worst of individual behaviour against the collective excesses of armed […]
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The Land of Heart’s Delight: Early Maps and Charts of Vancouver Island By Michael Layland Touchwood Editions 232 pages, $39.95 Reviewed by Margaret Thompson In this meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated book, Michael Layland traces the development of the accurate, detailed maps of Vancouver Island we take for granted today. His own qualifications as […]
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Life Class By Ann Charney Cormorant Books 232 pages, $21.95 Reviewed by Margaret Thompson Nerina, the protagonist of Ann Charney’s fourth novel, Life Class, is an unusually optimistic and determined refugee. She carries freight from her past in the former Yugoslavia, including a terror of dogs born of her experiences in war-torn Sarajevo, but she […]
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