Why a Booktrail?
2026: Searching for refuge in the BC woods, that might not be what this burned out lawyer finds….
Totem
What you need to know before your trail
The day Jessie Cunningham achieves her life’s goal and is made partner in an ultra-powerful Toronto law firm, she suffers a catastrophic burnout. While attempting to recuperate, she volunteers for a charity preserving ancient trees in the wilderness of British Columbia. There she meets Todd Samson, a man with a troubled past and a wounded soul.
The attraction is instant, but they’re from different worlds… that are about to collide.
When Todd is falsely accused of murdering a local conservation officer and his beleaguered community in the Three Valleys Reserve comes under pressure from the government to swap its ancestral territory for land on the outskirts of Vancouver, Jessie is drawn into their struggle against greed, corruption and injustice.
Forming an unlikely alliance with Chief Ray Squinas and wood carver and shaman Eldon Marshall, Jessie joins them in the fight of their lives – against just the kind of dark forces she has spent her career serving.
Locations
Reset- Canada - British Columbia
- A: Three Valley Gap
- B: Three Valley Lake
- C: Vancouver Harbour
- Canada - ON - Toronto
- D: Spadina Ave.
- E: Queen St
Travel Guide
British Columbia
The author writes in his author note that he researched the book in the deep forests of the BC area. He was there to research a TV show but ended up getting the idea for a novel. He mentions that they came across skeletal remains of a teepee that had probably been there for years. He also says that “forest had never been managed and had existed as nature intended.”
The story takes place on the land of the First Nations people – and the author wanted to incorporate the art, culture and history of these people into a novel. Most importantly, he discovered the story, the traumatic story of the Residential homes and people sent there and later wanted to reconnect with his past and heritage.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Totem
Destination/location: British Columbia, Toronto Author/guide: Matthew Hall Departure Time: 2025
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