In Nature's Realm
Winner of the 2020 Basil Stuart Stubbs Prize
Winner of the 2019 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing
A celebration of the richly diverse flora and fauna of Vancouver Island as explored through the records of explorers, settlers, and visitors, and with due respect to the wealth of Indigenous traditional knowledge of the island’s eco …
Death in a Darkening Mist
The second instalment in the Lane Winslow mystery series; for fans of the Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford series.
On a snowy day in December 1946, Lane Winslow—a former British intelligence agent who’s escaped to the rural Canadian community of King’s Cove in pursuit of a tranquil life—is introduced to the local hot springs. While there she o …
A Perfect Eden
Shortlisted for two 2016 BC Book Prizes
Finalist for the 2016 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing
A compelling history of the earliest explorers to Vancouver Island, brought to life with illustrations and maps.
In 1842, when explorer James Douglas encountered the rugged natural paradise that would become Vancouver Island, he describ …
It's Only the Himalayas
A laugh-out-loud travel memoir that reveals backpacking’s awkward side.
Sue, a disenchanted waitress, embarks upon a year-long quest around the world with her friend, Sara—who’s exasperatingly perfect. Expecting a whimsical jaunt of self-discovery, Sue instead encounters an absurd series of misadventures that render her embarrassed, terrified, …
The Carefree Garden
What happens when a lifelong gardener finally realizes that he must collaborate with Mother Nature rather than work against her in order to achieve his dream of creating the perfect garden? In this delightful and thoughtful narrative journey of horticultural discovery, Bill Terry asks how and even why we garden, and to what end?
These are personal …
Black Tide Rising
It’s been a year since retired cop Dan Connor formed an unlikely partnership with ex-criminal Walker, to find Claire, a missing marine biologist. And it's been a year since he fell for her. Now he finally has the chance to enjoy both his retirement and the relationship as he travels up the Pacific Northwest coast of British Columbia to meet her i …
John Rae's Arctic Correspondence, 1844-1855
Although Arctic explorer and Hudson Bay Company surveyor John Rae (1813–1893) travelled and recorded the final uncharted sections of the Northwest Passage, he is best known for his controversial discovery of the fate of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845. Based on evidence given to him by local Inuit, Rae determined that Franklin’s crew had r …
The Cariboo Trail
Agnes C. Laut’s The Cariboo Trail is a fascinating history of the Canadian gold rush that began in 1858. When, in early 1849, a group of ragged miners arrived in the sleepy town of Victoria from California, no one would have believed that a little over ten years later a gold rush would hit the Fraser River.
Between 1859 and 1871, thousands of mine …
The Discovery of a Northwest Passage
For centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of …
The Discovery of a Northwest Passage
For centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of …
The Arctic Journals of John Rae
Scottish doctor and explorer John Rae is a controversial figure in the history of the Arctic. He began his career with the Hudson's Bay Company as a surgeon in Moose Factory, Ontario, where he learned to survey, live off the land, and travel great distances on snowshoes. These skills served him well when, in 1846, he was charged with completing the …
Those Earlier Hills
Few men have been as set on isolated adventures and as passionate about the wild landscape of Canada as R.M. Patterson. He spent over 30 years in exploration, from northern rivers such as the Nahanni and the Liard, to the foothills of the Rockies, and he recorded his discoveries in vivid words and breathtaking photographs along the way. His memorab …
The Voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic Seas
In 1845, Sir John Franklin set off from England to locate and chart the elusive Northwest Passage. He and his crew of 129 men never returned.
Over the following decade, forty expeditions were launched in an effort to establish the fate of the missing men. But it wasn’t until 1854 that traces of their demise were discovered along the western shore …
The Voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic Seas
In 1845, Sir John Franklin set off from England to locate and chart the elusive Northwest Passage. He and his crew of one hundred and twenty-eight men never returned.
Over the following decade, forty expeditions were launched in an effort to establish the fate of the missing men. But it wasn't until 1854 that traces of their demise were discovered a …
Pioneers of the Pacific Coast
In the early sixteenth century, the first exploratory ships arrived on the Pacific Coast of North America. These rovers were seeking gold and silver, fur pelts, a safe passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and above all, adventure. Though many of the voyagers didn’t survive the dangerous sea crossings or the perils that awaited them on land, …
Old Bones
Resting on what was left of the bench was something else, lighter in shade than the background, round, about the size of a cabbage. There were two large holes close together, a smaller pair below, then two rows of wedge-shaped objects. The pattern suddenly coalesced: in atavistic and chilling familiarity . . .
In a remote British Columbia lake, an …
A Journey to the Northern Ocean
Widely recognized as a classic of northern-exploration literature, A Journey to the Northern Ocean is Samuel Hearne's story of his three-year trek to seek a trade route across the Barrens in the Northwest Territories. Hearne was a superb reporter, from his anguished description of the massacre of helpless Eskimos by his Indian companions to his met …
