Books set in Canada – Celebrate Canada Day
July 1st is Canada Day and so here’s the perfect reason to read a book set in this wonderfully vast and varied country.
With its mix of French and English, its rich mix of cultures and heritage such as the First Nations hold a real fascination for me and always have done. And what better way to celebrate the literary heritage of Canada than by picking out a few books to showcase this wonderful country?
A story of the fledging town of St John’s at a time when a great fire destroys much of downtown. The town is changing in many ways and this is a city in flux with women demanding the right to vote and two women at the heart of it are experiencing the greatest changes of all
Book your next literary holiday with A Sudden Sun
One of the first books I read set in Canada and the first place I headed to when I travelled there. I so wanted to see where Anne and Diana lived, where she met Gilbert and lived with Matthew and Marilla. You can see how characters can stay in your head for years after finishing a book. I’ve read this thousands of times since to remember the time I stepped inside Green Gables. I just love the legacy Lucy Maud Montgomery has left behind and how she’s made a beautiful place even more beautiful
Book your next literary holiday with Anne of Green Gables
There’s nothing like a story based on true life facts – “Quietly My Captain Waits” tells of two lovers whose fates are sealed in the early 1700s in Acadia. The story is based on two residents of New France–the fiery Louise de Freneuse, married and widowed twice, and Pierre de Bonaventure, Captain in the French Navy.
Booktrail your next literary holiday with “Quietly My Captain Waits”
Quebec is the province I spent the most time in given the French influence. I didn’t realise really how different French and Canadian French is until I got there. But I discovered such fascinating history, the loveliest people in the world and poutine. Yes, if there is anything nicer than chips, cheese curd and gravy, sitting beside the Château Frontenac looking over the St Lawrence River, then I’ve yet to find it.
Quebec has also produced some of my favourite authors in the French language. There’s also the fact that one of my favourite author has set her Gamache books there in the fictional Three Pines. I say fictional but it’s based on the small towns around the region and you almost expect to see Gamache when there. Or is that just me? Great novels and great characters. If you like your crime a little more hardboiled, then you can’t get much more hardboiled that Kathy Reichs. She shows you a side of Quebec you certainly wouldn’t ever want to see for real, but via fiction, that’s ok.
Booktrail your next literary holiday to Quebec with Louise Penny
When I think of Ontario, I think of Margaret Atwood. She’s the city’s most famous author and many of her novels are set there so chances are as you walk around the city, you’ll wander into a scene in one her books. This is also the home of the theatre which starred in recent hit ‘Station 11’. There’s so much literary heritage here.
To really discover Manitoba, William Kurelek is your man. He drawn and evoked such beautfiul scenes of the prairies and of his life growing up that to have his books is like having an illustrated history of the province.
Saskatchewan – Even the name is lovely. To really discover this province, I suggest you read PAtrick Gale’s A place Called Winter for the sheer brilliance in evoking the days when the province was developing and the Canadian Railway was in its early stages. This is also based on a true story of a man who because he was gay,was sent out to Canada away from his family in the UK. Heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure.
Booktrail your next holiday to Saskatchewan with Patrick Gale
The story of Vauderville in Alberta and the West Coast of Canada
Booktrail your literary journey to Alberta
There is so much to see and do in British Columbia, literary style, but I’ve picked out The Missing One by Lucy Atkins. This novel is a suspenseful story about mothers and motherhood but for me it was the way in which it showcased the area and the waters around Vancouver Island which is just beautiful and eerily done. This is a place in the world where Killer whales, Orcas inhabit and these are featured in the story, as is the woman who studied them there for real. I immediately watched the documentary BlackFish after watching this which looks at Orcas in captivity. Moving.
Booktrail your literary journey to The Missing One
Happy Canada day to all!
