The British Columbia Review | Books and Culture of British Columbia

One man plays many parts

“As a young boy growing up in England, Gaze’s love of theatre and performing was paramount. Sent to boarding school at the tender age of eight (the usual practice for well-to-do families at that time), he quickly learnt how to become independent and resolute while still retaining a deep love for his parents and sister all his life. His father might well have wanted him to go on to university, become an academic, and then follow in the family business, but Christopher had other plans.” Valerie Green reviews The Road to Bard: A Legacy of Shakespeare on Canada’s West Coast, by Christopher Gaze (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2026) $40 / 9781998526284

‘Focused strength, kindness, and suffering’

“The substory, the growth edge for our quadriplegic hero, is male vulnerability. Can vulnerability be heroic? Phil’s story might answer this question. The book offers a fascinating saga for anyone making the transition from extrovert adventures into their heart.” Lee Reid reviews I Won’t Stand for This! Embracing My Disability to Empower Others, by Phil Nealy with Kyle Hawke (Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2026) $34.95 / 9781989467855

Brown Days, Green Days

Novel with contemporary and historical settings is buoyed by luminous prose while also undercut by exposition and Hallmark motifs: “Readers looking for accessible historical fiction with romantic elements and an uplifting emotional arc will find plenty to enjoy here, but those looking for greater psychological subtlety or prose that trusts them to draw their own conclusions may find themselves disappointed.” —Ryan Frawley reviews Shades of Emily, by Leslie Howard Madeira Park, Douglas & McIntyre, 2026 $26.95 / 9781771625005

Bruce Baugh – Philosophers’ Walks

“Thompson Rivers University Professor Emeritus in Philosophy, and walker, Bruce Baugh has gone from a boy in Vancouver, to adulthood in Kamloops, sometimes tramping the hills and cities of Europe searching for the thinking grounds of Coleridge, Rousseau, and Kierkegaard to name a few. In his book Philosophers’ Walks he ruminates on the combination of walking and thought, and how they might compliment each other. We caught up with him in downtown Kamloops.” Trevor Marc Hughes presents an interview with Bruce Baugh.

A daughter’s tender map

“What Doan offers in place of theoretical engagement is something rarer in caregiving literature. She offers candour. She describes bringing her mother-in-law June home for Christmas and recognizing afterward that “it was our need to have June with us at Christmas, not her need.” She writes that her own mother had never been what she would describe as a Hallmark Mom, naming her mother’s mental illness and earlier addiction without softening either. This refusal of sentimentality is what gives the book its trustworthiness. Doan is not asking the reader to love a tidy mother. She is asking the reader to keep loving a real one, through a disease that takes its time and takes a great deal.” Amy Tucker reviews She’s Still My Mom: Navigating Your Loved One’s Journey with Alzheimer’s, by Laura K. Doan (Victoria: FriesenPress, 2025) $18.49 / 9781038326423

Rowing around the island

“Rowing east through the channel between the islands at mid-tide I am treated to an amazing conglomeration of sea life—sand dollars, streams of emerald-green eelgrass, sea wrack and other marine algae, crater-like holes where butter clams, littlenecks and cockles are buried deep in the muddy sand, and masses of the more recently arrived Japanese oysters and manila clams with their violet inner shells.” Nancy J. Turner writes about rowing around the place she calls home: Protection Island (from Love of the Salish Sea Islands: An Anthology, published by Mother Tongue Publishing).

Showing adventure continues in travel

“I’d honestly forgotten the sense of freedom and discovery of a barely-planned road trip. Forgotten, that is, until I read Winging It: Travelling Without Reservations, a travelogue of sorts by Vancouver writer and artist Michael Kluckner. It’s a slim volume full of fascinating travel destinations and evocative illustrations that had me ready to pack my bags and head out for parts unknown, minus the rigorous travel planning I’m apt to do these days.” Trish Bowering reviews Winging It: Travelling Without Reservations, by Michael Kluckner (Vancouver: Midtown Press, 2026) $19.95 / 9781988242644

Challenging an institution with wisdom

“Cutting Edge brims with lines deeply imbued with a perspective that seems slightly haunted as Gawthrop reminisces on ‘the disillusioning loss of innocence that occurs when you discover that your heroes have feet of clay’— statues, even the tallest ones, can fall when the wind picks up. But as a child, playing hockey was another kind of spiritual endeavour for Gawthrop, and he describes Nanaimo’s Civic Arena in 1973 as ‘another kind of church, where instead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the ‘faithful’ called up ghosts from classic games of spectacles past; where instead of incense the air was thick with cigarettes, french fries and vinegar, old wood, and stale sweat.’” Zoe Chong reviews Cutting Edge: Hockey as Queer Culture, by Daniel Gawthrop (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2026) $26.95 / 9781834050485

‘Pulling pins on grenades’

“In telling stories of humanity in a universe that is slightly out of joint, the novel felt like an invitation to look up and around and take stock of one’s own sense of place and connection. It’s literary fiction married to science fiction that digs deep to uncover the roots of human motivation, and our joys and fears.” —Trish Bowering reviews Exit Party, by Emily St. John Mandel (Toronto: HarperAvenue/HarperCollins Canada, 2026) $38.99 / 9781443466141

Reminder of freshwater sternwheeler history

“Author Bob Turner takes numerous side trips explaining the workings of steam ship engines, describing the CPR shipyard operation, and a typical working day on board the vessel.” John MacFarlane reviews The Paddlewheeler SS Moyie: The Sweetheart of Kootenay Lake, by Robert D. Turner (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2026) $44.95 / 9781998526819

Past(s), present(s), future(s)

Veteran novelist’s latest effort ponders grief, fate, time travel, personal evolution, and astrology. Our reviewer appreciated the intricate plotting and west coast setting, but felt unsatisfied with the protagonist and her (lack of) development. —Zoe McKenna reviews The Atlas Keeper, by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (Toronto: Harper Avenue / HarperCollins Canada, 2026) $25.99 / 9781443471404

Troubled relationship, celebrated artist couple

“Greenfield’s thorough look at their work and lives describes their era’s political, cultural, and social events and ideas, as well as abundant evidence for the power of deep-seated emotions dictating reoccurring patterns and the often-impossible effort required to change course.” Anything but a Still Life: The Art and Lives of Molly Lamb and Bruno Bobak, by Nathan M. Greenfield (Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2021) $35 / 9781773100920

One eco-battle after another

“‘He would throw all of his energy and considerable intellectual resources behind a cause,’ Gilbert writes, and his causes didn’t stop with animals. His protest targets included old growth forest logging, fossil fuel pipelines, and uranium mining. Called a ‘shadow warrior’ by a friend, he left ‘a treasure trove of original and primary sources of Canadian history,’ Gilbert adds.” Ron Verzuh reviews Walrus: The Remarkable Life of Eco-Warrior David Garrick, by Catherine Marie Gilbert (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2026) $24.95 / 9781553807414

‘Wells of feeling and perception’

Debut collection of poetry offers intriguing technique, the observational and anecdotal, and suggestive juxtaposition more so than clinical analysis. “Most fundamental of the cohering themes, though, is the power and pull of family. For Rabinowitz, importantly, family is not freighted with heritage, status or duty. Rather, it often means an almost crippling sense of closeness,” our reviewer notes. —Theo Dombrowski reviews Suggestions, by Aaron Rabinowitz (Sackville: Gaspereau Press, 2026) $24.95 / 9781554472864

Bond that illuminates and enriches

“Rosemary Sullivan’s descriptive and perceptive vignettes are accentuated by illustrations created by sister Colleen Sullivan, at her studio just outside of Victoria. The sketches are sprinkled throughout the book, eliciting reflection in the reader towards these enigmatic beings. Trevor Marc Hughes reviews Fierce Attachments: A Life with Cats
by Rosemary Sullivan (with illustrations by Colleen Sullivan) (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026) $24.95 / 97817716249243

Romance and intrigue, scimitars and swords

Sprawling, Mediterranean-set (but Malta-focussed) novel, the first book of a trilogy, blends 16th-century historical fact with a complex tale of romantic schemes. The “novel has a Shakespearean quality, with is star-crossed lovers, its class divisions, and its descriptions of institutional corruption involving church, state and the occupying Knights,” our reviewer remarks. —Ron Verzuh reviews Eight-Pointed Cross, A Novel of the Knights of Malta, by Marthese Fenech (Toronto: Rising Action Publishing, 2026) $26.99 / 9781998672288

Valley living, city life

A novel-in-stories recalls small town (and then city) life, queer subsistence, and one young man’s gradual coming out in midcentury BC. “The first-person narrative employs a sultry blend of the wistful and world-weary that grabs hold of the reader and doesn’t let go,” our reviewer writes. —Daniel Gawthrop reviews Confluence, a novel, by Alex Turner & Lucian Childs (Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2026) $24.95 / 9781834050416

Unfetterings

A diverse collection of fiction and creative nonfiction takes to land and sea—and to past, present, and future—and highlights a roving eye, intense curiosity, and careful. thoughtful observation. —Rosella Leslie reviews Temptations and Travels, by Jan DeGrass (Garden Bay: MW Books, 2026) $24.00 / 9781069534668

Tucker 3. feature cover Secrets of the Horse

What the horse already knows

“The central argument is both simple and quietly radical: horses are sentient, communicative beings whose so-called problem behaviours are almost always expressions of stress, pain, or confusion rather than defiance or dominance. ‘When humans see unwanted behaviors,’ Dennis writes, ‘most of the time it is the horse’s direct response to stress, which is then taken personally by the human handler and labeled as an attempt to dominate them. The truth is far from the case.’ This reframe sits at the heart of the book, and it holds. Amy Tucker reviews Secrets of the Horse: A New Approach to Training and Understanding Horses, by Shelby Dennis (Novato, California: New World Library, 2026) $19.95 (USD) / 9781608689736

‘Into the woods, it’s time to go’

An intoxicating sophomore novel captivates with beautifully haunting writing, one reprehensible villain and one mysterious one, folkloric creations, an overall gothic atmosphere, and a distinctive protagonist. The author’s “execution is wondrous, painting haunting imagery that entices and enthrals,” our reviewer says. —Myshara McMyn reviews The Hanging Bones, by Elle Tesch (New York: Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends, 2026) $28.99 / 9781250379740

A toolkit for safer water

“This book is a current state of the union report on all the things wrong with Canada’s drinking water and the regulations that control it. Launched on March 22, World Water Day, 2026, Water Justice is a call for action. Less a polite tugging on the sleeve or well-mannered lobbying, this book is a blast from a trumpet. Anyone who cares about safe drinking water in Canada, or anywhere, cannot come away from this barrage of information with complacency.” Wendy Burton reviews Water Justice: What you don’t know could kill you, by Susan Blacklin (Vancouver Island: Blacklin Press, 2026) $29.99 / 9781777465438

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