Tag: British Columbia setting
In a small mining town in eastern British Columbia, Lily and her sister Bea suffer racial slurs because of their Chinese heritage. At home, they listen to their mother’s constant moaning about how she hates Canada and nothing is as good as Brunei where she spent most of her earlier life. Just as the mine is closing down, their father discovers their mother’s clothes are gone and there’s no sign of her. The father is forced to bring up the children with the help of his sister and they move to Calgary.
Continue reading “Jamie Chai Yun Liew’s—Dandelion” →
This is a fascinating tale of Chan Sam who left his wife in China to find gold in British Columbia. In Vancouver, he bought a concubine who worked in Chinatown to support both families.
The memoir gives a deep insight into the early lives of Chinese immigrants to Canada—the hard work they endured, the loneliness they faced, and the deep prejudice they suffered from both the government and the European community.
After being widowed in 1927, Blanchet took off with her children as skipper in her seven metre boat every summer to tour deserted inlets and abandoned First Nation villages. She cruised single handedly from her home on Vancouver Island along the Strait of Georgia between the Gulf Islands braving storms and engine breakdowns.
This is a wonderful memoir—a Canadian classic—that made me feel as if I was on an extended holiday to these beautiful and unique isolated locations.
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