Canada Week on The BookTrail

Submitted: 26th June 2017

With the national celebrations for Canada Day building up nicely for this Saturday, 1st July, then what better way to celebrate and visit the stunning country than through its literature? Seat belts fastened tightly? I’ve got some great books to get you in the mood for some Canadian celebrations of the Literary Kind..

British Columbia

Tracker’s Canyon

Set in the BC Wilderness, this is an adventure story of a boy trying to find his father. Thanks to his dad’s coaching, sixteen-year-old Tristan is a brilliant climber and tracker. He can read footprints and bushes and in this brutal and unforgiving landscape, he can fearlessly descend rock faces and waterfalls. So when his father disappears,he takes it upon himself to go and try to find him. A brave adventure story for all ages in my opinion and one which really shows what the landscape and mountains of BC are like in their raw natural state. You may want to be a rock climber yourself after this one

Alberta

Amanda in Alberta: The Writing on the Stone

This is a very fun and interesting book – first of all it’s a brilliant YA story but with a twist and it’s a great guide to all the amazing sites and cultural heritage that Alberta has to offer. Have you ever heard of the historical landmark of Visit Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump? No? Wait till you see how it got its name and the cultural significance of the site. It really showcases the magic of this province. The Calgary Stampeded is also soething to be believed. It’s not surprising that the cowboy in the story is trying to get his hands on a stone they find in the area. A good old fashioned adventure story.

Saskatchewan

A Place Called Winter

Still one of my favourite books set in Saskatchewan as it goes back in time to when the Canadian Railroad was being built and looks at the experiences of the men who were sent there to work on the praries in the fields and on the railways. It’s a sobering book too given that it’s inspired by the author’s real life family mystery of a family member who emigrated to Canada, a way to escape the life he wanted to lead in England. Lovely evocative writing makes this book stand out.

Manitoba

The Diviners

Prarie towns are scattered all over Manitoba and the fictional one of Manawaka should definitely be on your radar. It’a actually inspired by the hometown of the author Margaret Laurence and is frequently used as a setting in novels and short stories. It’s called Neepawa and is west of Winnipeg.

Margaret Laurence is the Canadian writer to definately put on your reading list – Born in 1926 , she died in 1987 and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada’s writing community.

Ontario

Margaret Atwood’s novels

Well, Ontario is on the map for Margaret Atwood since the Toronto writer has written some of the best known Canadian fiction. Having said that, most of her books are dystopian and have fictional settings or set in vague locations but she deserves to be on this list for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale which was largely filmed in the Canadian metropolis.

Quebec

Inspector Gamache and Three Pines

Ah now what would Quebec be like if it were not for the acerbic wit of Gamache? He’s become ever more grouchy and ironic with every book he’s appeared in and judging by the latest one, some things never change thank goodness. This fictional man is one of the reasons why I love Quebec. Three Pines where the books are set isn’t even real but is based on a few villages, an area, made whole by the author’s imagination. And Louise Penny must draw just as many visitors to the province as any tourist campaign. In Glass Houses, a mysterious figure appears on the village green in Three Pines, causing unease, alarm and confusion among everyone who sees it. What will Gamache do to sort things out? Ohh just you wait and see!