On Island (Life Among the Coast Dwellers)

Winner of the 2017 BC Book Prizes' Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice Award

In this collection of short stories, Pat Carney follows the rhythms of day-to-day life in coastal BC. Featuring a revolving cast of characters —the newly retired couple, the church warden, the musician, the small-town girl with big city dreams —Carney’s keen observations of the personalities and dramas of coastal life are instantly recognizable to readers who are familiar with life in a small community. With her narrative of dock fights, pet shows, family feuds, logging camps and the ever-present tension between islanders and property-owning “off-islanders,” Carney’s witty and perceptive voice describes how the islanders weather the storms of coastal life.

Carney writes evocatively of the magical landscape of the British Columbia coast, where she has lived and worked for five decades. At the same time, she addresses the less-idyllic moments that can also characterize coastal life: power outages, winter storms, isolation. On Island brings the West Coast landscape —human and natural —to life and gives islanders and mainland dwellers alike a taste of what it means to be “on island.”