Victoria Unbuttoned
A nuanced history of prostitution in Victoria told through newly uncovered stories of women who lived it.
From the establishment of Fort Victoria, BC’s capital city has had a long history of prostitution. But little has been written on the lives of the women themselves—some of the most enterprising women in Victoria’s past. Instead, these wome …
Boom & Bust
Received Honourable Mention for the 2019 Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Historical Writing
Telegraph Cove, one of Vancouver Island’s most visited tourist destinations, has humble origins as a one-shack telegraph station, established a century ago. The community grew, first with a salmon saltery and sawmill, then with new industries developed by t …
Following the Curve of Time
A paperback edition of the BC Book Award–nominated biography of Capi Blanchet, the author of the BC coastal classic, The Curve of Time.
After her husband died in 1926 from a suspected drowning, Capi Blanchet spent every summer cruising BC’s west coast with her five children and their dog in the family’s 25-foot boat. The Curve of Time is the b …
Against the Current
Received an Honourable Mention for the 2018 Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Historical Writing
The first book on Agnes Deans Cameron, BC’s first female principal, itinerant traveller, and journalist.
Agnes Deans Cameron was an extraordinary woman who was ahead by a century. Born in Victoria in 1863, she was the first female school principal in the …
Gold Rush Queen
A biography of the extraordinary Nellie Cashman, a well-loved miner, entrepreneur and philanthropist who lived and worked in the roughest boomtowns of the West in the late-nineteenth century.
At a time when well-bred women wore tight corsets and entertained each other at tea, Nellie Cashman (1845–1925) was trekking for hundreds of miles through bl …
Gold Rush Queen
A biography of the extraordinary Nellie Cashman, a well-loved miner, entrepreneur and philanthropist who lived and worked in the roughest boomtowns of the West in the late-nineteenth century.
At a time when well-bred women wore tight corsets and entertained each other at tea, Nellie Cashman (1845–1925) was trekking for hundreds of miles through bl …
Emily Carr As I Knew Her
Out of print for more than 40 years, this is an intimate and heartwarming biography that throws a whole new light on one of Canada's most beloved and iconic artists.
In 1916, Emily Carr wasn’t famous. She was poor, and she taught art classes to children to make a living. One of her students was seven-year-old Carol Pearson. Pearson spent hours eve …
Rosina, the Midwife
Finalist for a 2014 Alberta Literary Award
Between 1870 and 1970, 26 million Italians left their homeland and travelled to places like Canada, Australia and the United States, in search of work. Many of them never returned to Italy. Against this historic backdrop comes the story of Rosina, a Calabrian matriarch, who worked as a midwife in an area wh …
The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley
Frances Barkley was just eighteen when she became the first European woman to set foot on the west coast of North America. After a sheltered upbringing in England, Frances found herself boarding the Imperial Eagle in 1786 to set sail on an adventurous, round-the-world voyage with her husband, Captain Charles William Barkley.
With great wisdom and wi …
Stella
A wealthy madam who was known from San Francisco to Victoria in the early part of the 20th century, Stella Carroll was glamorous, worldly and determined to succeed. Her bordellos were fashionably decorated and patronized by the affluent and the powerful; she offered the best of everything—fine food and wine, cigars, entertainment and, of course, …
The Remarkable World of Frances Barkley
Frances Barkley was just eighteen when she became the first European woman to set foot on the west coast of North America. After a sheltered upbringing in England, Frances found herself boarding the Imperial Eagle in 1786 to set sail on an adventurous, round-the-world voyage with her husband, Captain Charles William Barkley.
With great wisdom and w …
Home and Away
In her best-selling first book, Home: Tales of a Heritage Farm (2005), Anny Scoones introduced readers to historic Glamorgan Farm. In Home and Away, Anny presents more stories about the joys and sorrows, excitements and mishaps and also takes readers farther afield, sharing with them her travels to other parts of Canada, to New York and to such pla …
