Awake and dreaming is set around Ross bay cemetery, more of a youths perspective, but the novel is fantastic.
White jade tiger is a YA novel (I think?) I read it in class in the 5th grade, but it starts in fan tan alley and ends up on the mainland. It touches base on the conditions of Chinese workers during the building of the railroad, and how poorly they were treated.
Goodreads has a list
[https://www.goodreads.com/places/9722-vancouver-island-british-columbia](https://www.goodreads.com/places/9722-vancouver-island-british-columbia)
I was reading Ducks and was surprised to find a chapter on Victoria. I knew the author was from the east coast and was working in the oil sands, but I hadn't known that she had a job at the Maritime Museum for a year or so.
https://www.cbc.ca/books/ducks-by-kate-beaton-1.6559688
https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/mattea-roach-championing-ducks-by-kate-beaton-wins-canada-reads-2023-1.6795030
I love the part where she goes on a coffee date with a guy in Victoria and he turns out to be a flakey loser who doesn't care to have a job and she's like ?????.
You should definitely read Emily St John Mandel’s other 2 books that are basically a loosely connected trilogy, Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel. Station Eleven is only briefly set on the west coast but The Glass Hotel has a large portion on Vancouver Island.
Greenwood and Last Tide both take place on gulf islands.
Blood on the Breakwater is a mystery taking place in Victoria.
There is a book called "British Columbia Coast Names: Their Origin And History" that was written in the 1910s that gives explanations of names all over the coast and has some truly ancient stories. Many stories about first contact with native tribes as far back as the mid to early 1700s. Really interesting read even if it's more of a dictionary than a proper story.
I work on ships and it's extremely cool to be anchored in some bay, look up the history of it, and hear some crazy story from the 17-1800s that took place there
Show pissed me off so hard.
I fucking hated everyone except for the parents.
Stupid trashy dumb hillbilly kids smoking weed and committing petty crimes thinking they are dangerous hardcore gangsters
If only the bridge collapsed or something and took all of them out simultaneously plus like a few more that were not there at the time
Made me so thankful though that I grew up in the big city though
Description from Agatha Christie, about arriving in Victoria by boat from Hawaii. She stayed at the Empress. (written in a letter, later published in a biographical book about her round-the-world trip)
"It was delicious coming into Victoria yesterday afternoon, blue sea and sunshine, crisp but not cold, and a wonderful scent of pinewoods!"
[https://www.agathachristie.com/en/news/2022/agatha-christies-grand-adventure](https://www.agathachristie.com/en/news/2022/agatha-christies-grand-adventure)
Maybe it looked kind of like this?
[https://collections.musee-mccord-stewart.ca/en/objects/165213/hotel-empress-victoria-cb-vers-1925](https://collections.musee-mccord-stewart.ca/en/objects/165213/hotel-empress-victoria-cb-vers-1925)
Another historical description -- Eunice Harrison's memoirs describe what life here was like in the late 1800s. Apparently the town was so small back then that the area around Moss St. was a farm -- she describes being frightened by an intruder, and worried about being far from help.
https://ronsdalepress.com/books/the-judges-wife/
And of course, Emily Carr's description of being a landlady (the house is still there).
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/828088.The\_House\_of\_All\_Sorts
https://houseofallsorts.com
Not Victoria but a few of Douglas Couplands books take place in Vancouver.
*edit* The Trickster Trilogy by Eden Robinson take place in Bella Bella + Bella Coola area and Vancouver.
If you like romance, People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry has a chapter that takes place in Victoria and on the island. I read it while I was on vacation in Hawaii and found it funny to be reading about home while on vacation.
the first conversation i ever had with my sister's (much older than i) inlaws two years ago quickly veered off into michelle remembers. it was the first i had ever heard of the event since i'm a young adult. they were really fuzzy on the details though and only talked about kidnapping and torture.
they insisted it was all totally real, but i refused to believe them. so i looked into it on my own for no more than 5 minutes and immediately discovered it was proven to be all lies.
Emily Carr’s own books are also a great read and give insight into what it was like to grow up and live in Victoria back in the day. She was a talented lady and many don’t realize she was a gifted writer as well as a visual artist.
Some of *October Ferry to Gabriola* by Malcolm Lowry takes place on Vancouver Island.
Much of *Never Fly Over an Eagle's Nest* by Joe Garner takes place on Saltspring Island. Saltspring gets some coverage in Garner's other books.
I didn't like this book but "Into That Darkness" by Steven Price is a fictional novel that takes place in Victoria where a big earthquake rocks the area.
Jack Hodgins is an Island novelist and short story writer whose work really gives a flavour of life on the Island in the middle of the 20th century.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack\_Hodgins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hodgins)
Arboreality, by Rebecca Campbell, starts off in the McPherson Library at UVic and takes place mostly in the Cowichan valley. It's also a common first-year core text across a bunch of courses for next year at UVic.
It's been a while but author Michael Slade (pseudonym) wrote some amazing horror-crime novels based on a retired RCMP officer DeClerq who investigates gruesome murders that occur here in BC.
They're graphic but beautifully written using a lot of landmarks from our Sunshine Coast.
Steven King/Dean Koontz meets Dan Brown
My neighbor wrote a book called [Stealing Stanley](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199345027-stealing-stanley), and it's set mostly in Victoria with a field trip up-island. He was at the James Bay Farmers Market a couple weeks ago to promote it, and says a sequel will be out this year. It's a fun read!
I adore those books, but they take place in Toronto and Muskoka. You may be thinking of Awake and Dreaming by the same author, which takes place mostly in Victoria, specifically around Ross Bay Cemetery.
I read 85 grams- Art Williams The Drug Czar! Now that was a very interesting read, the true story of Art Williams who lived in Ladysmith area in the 70s and produced the drug MDMA, in its early years!
Not a book, but I was recently surprised by the tv series Taboo.
Top tier production, and while it doesn't take place in Victoria so much as London, England, the entire plot centres around land rights to Nootka Sound (and Vancouver Island in general).
Had no idea going into the series, I thought it was just going to be a really good period drama. But then they started talking about Nootka and I'm like "wait a second..."
Only one season out so far and it's been on hiatus since 2017, but a second season is [officially](https://www.bosshunting.com.au/entertainment/tv/taboo-season-2-release-date-trailer-cast-news/) in the works and based on how season 1 wrapped up, I assume season 2 *will* be set at least partially on Vancouver Island.
Trailer in case anyone's interested :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9QvSry2-CM
ETA: Also on the note of TV that's actually set here (not just filmed here) — the first few seasons of Alone take place at the north tip of Vancouver Island
One thing that really stuck in my memory was her description of a party where her guests had various dietary restrictions, and I couldn't help laughing because I've had present-day experiences like that!
I really enjoyed “Bucket of Blood” by K. Bannerman, historical fiction set in Cumberland on Vancouver Island, and also “Truly the Devil’s Work” by the same author, which is set in Esquimalt, although that is part of another series. Quirky characters, lots of historical detail, and sort of an old-timey style with a sometimes morbid twist.
That's one of my favourite Rendell novels too! One of my co-workers got a bit part in that adaptation.
I think there are a couple of Alice Munro short stories that are set here, based on the background descriptions (though she doesn't mention the name specifically).
In “Five Points” from from her collection Friend of My Youth one of the characters is from Victoria. He describes his neighbourhood as Five Points but I despite being a lifelong Victorian can’t figure out what he means. It sounds kind of like James Bay.
Close: Fairfield. Five Points is the intersection of Moss at Fairfield and Oscar. The first two go in two directions, and Oscar ends there, so five directions/points.
Some years ago, Oscar was closed off there to make the intersection safer, and now only allows bike and foot traffic through. There was/is a daycare called Five Points that I think operated out of the community centre.
I had also thought of the intersection of Douglas/Government/Hillside/Gorge, which is also 5 "points", and I know it was previously a large roundabout with a fountain that had a trough on the bottom to water horses, but the Five Points neighbourhood was the first one I mentioned, in Fairfield.
I'm sorry, all I remember about one of them is that it's about a woman visiting the city where she's discovered her husband's mistress lives. And the neighbourhood description sounds a lot like here (which makes sense because the author lived in Victoria for almost a decade). That story was probably in Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You, though Dance of the Happy Shades is also possible.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something\_I%27ve\_Been\_Meaning\_to\_Tell\_You](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_I%27ve_Been_Meaning_to_Tell_You)
[Blood on the breakwater](https://bolenbooks.com/lists/LdkvTltUuCXc) takes place in Victoria.
I liked it, but I think it’s one of the first books this author has written and you can kind of tell.
Chevy Stevens’ books, “What Remains of Elsie Jane” by Chelsea Wakelyn, “Fake It So Real” by Susan Sanford Blades, “Seaweed on the Street” (#1 in a series) by Stanley Evans, to name a few!
It's a bit odd, but The Girl with the Botticelli Face. I can't remember if it states outright that it's set in Victoria, but it's full of very specific/niche Victoria references
The Heaviness of Things That Float is a fictional tale that takes place in Kyuquot. Recommended to me by the author’s daughter while on a water taxi in the area. I found it interesting.
Awake and Dreaming, White Jade Tiger, Cariboo Runaway. All have ties to Victoria. I loved all three of these books as a child and I still turn to them every now and then.
[https://www.ekstasiseditions.com/pacificrim/issues/prrb-issue13.pdf](https://www.ekstasiseditions.com/pacificrim/issues/prrb-issue13.pdf)
Acclaimed late-poet and painter PK Page at 92 welcomed interviewer Joseph Blake to her Uplands home in the Victoria area’s Oak Bay.
"Nod" by Adrian Barnes was a fun horror read. It takes place in Vancouver, but I'm fairly sure it mentions Victoria or Vancouver Island once or twice if I remember correctly.
Jennifer Tilly's sister Meg Tilly lives on Salt Spring and writes books based on the islands- *Cliff’s Edge* and *Solace Island* To name 2 https://www.yourswithlove.co.uk/with-love-posts/2019/06/05/escape-to-the-real-solace-island-with-meg-tilly-an-interview/
I heard the owl call my name - Margaret Craven is amazing. Set in southern Vancouver island, Victoria and a bit in Vancouver around the 1900's I believe (?) Gentle and profound but still has several moments of subtle humour. Definitely a story that will stay with you for a long time.
They're quite sexiest and over the top hard-boiled. Also, the guy who wrote them is Welsh, so take any First Nations culture as fantasy rather than fact.
[The Drowned Girls by Loreth Anne White](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31682141-the-drowned-girls) is set in Victoria. I believe the author lives here part time. Victoria is not described in great detail exactly but it's set around the city. Ross Bay Cemetery I remember being mentioned among other places.
It's a mystery/detective/crime/thriller with some romance.
I saw a series in a free library around Hillside mall about a pig that lives in Victoria. The books seem to alternate taking place in different sections ie: Oak bay or Esquimalt.
Edeana Malcolm is a local author who's written a historical fiction series set in Victoria. [House of Crows](https://www.amazon.ca/House-Crows-Edeana-Malcolm/dp/1988915260) includes the Bay St. Bridge disaster. I loved it (and not just because I designed its cover). I've read all of her books because they capture the local flavour of 100+ years ago.
Sointula is great. Deloume Road is sad but very well written. Also - I’m told the woman who wrote station 11 has some mystery books that take place on a gulf island and local environs.
Not strictly local but "The Golden Spruce" by John Valliant cover the history of the entire west coast of Canada, Vancouver and all of the Islands up to Haida Gwaii. From first contact forward. It reads really well though and paces nicely, with a modern storyline juxtaposing the history. IMO it is essential reading if one lives out this way.
Next Year For Sure takes place in Vancouver and parts of it on the island/Gulf islands/Sunshine coast. They're not mentioned by name, but it's pretty clear to anyone from here.
Arboureality - novella set in Victoria and UVic post apocalypse/break down of society. Rebecca Davidson is the author, I think. Won awards and is about to become a standard reading for first year's at UVic. It sounds traumatic but is actually very life affirming.
Mindful of murder by Susan Juby who is from around d here and. The book takes place up island. Places all over the south coast are mentioned and it’s really good
THE BODY IN THE BACK GARDEN by Mark Waddell -- it's a queer cozy mystery that came out last year, set in a fictional town up-island. Nominated for the 2023 Edgar Awards, too!
Kit Pearson books
I still bust them out as an adult... Awake and Dreaming is a beautiful book I can't wait to enjoy with my daughter.
Awake and dreaming is my all time favourite!!
Awake and dreaming is set around Ross bay cemetery, more of a youths perspective, but the novel is fantastic. White jade tiger is a YA novel (I think?) I read it in class in the 5th grade, but it starts in fan tan alley and ends up on the mainland. It touches base on the conditions of Chinese workers during the building of the railroad, and how poorly they were treated.
This was one of my favorite books as a kid. I still consider her my favorite author. I should really reread that one, it was my fav of her books.
White Jade tiger was one of my favourite books. I also read it in grade 5.
Love that book! The mentions of west coast got me too. You’ll definitely want to check out glass hotel.
Goodreads has a list [https://www.goodreads.com/places/9722-vancouver-island-british-columbia](https://www.goodreads.com/places/9722-vancouver-island-british-columbia)
I was reading Ducks and was surprised to find a chapter on Victoria. I knew the author was from the east coast and was working in the oil sands, but I hadn't known that she had a job at the Maritime Museum for a year or so. https://www.cbc.ca/books/ducks-by-kate-beaton-1.6559688 https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/mattea-roach-championing-ducks-by-kate-beaton-wins-canada-reads-2023-1.6795030
I love the part where she goes on a coffee date with a guy in Victoria and he turns out to be a flakey loser who doesn't care to have a job and she's like ?????.
Not fiction, but the Curve of Time is a classic
It is! I enjoyed it, and would have loved to have been one of her kids.
Greenwood - the title island is fictional but definitely feels like a gulf island and lots of nearby sites discussed.
I just heard of this one - the author's spouse wrote Astra, which I am reading right now. I'm really enjoying it!
You should definitely read Emily St John Mandel’s other 2 books that are basically a loosely connected trilogy, Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel. Station Eleven is only briefly set on the west coast but The Glass Hotel has a large portion on Vancouver Island. Greenwood and Last Tide both take place on gulf islands. Blood on the Breakwater is a mystery taking place in Victoria.
Greenwood is awesome. I highly recommend it!
There is a book called "British Columbia Coast Names: Their Origin And History" that was written in the 1910s that gives explanations of names all over the coast and has some truly ancient stories. Many stories about first contact with native tribes as far back as the mid to early 1700s. Really interesting read even if it's more of a dictionary than a proper story.
Thanks for this! It sounds fascinating. I’ve just bought a used copy online at Russell Books.
I work on ships and it's extremely cool to be anchored in some bay, look up the history of it, and hear some crazy story from the 17-1800s that took place there
Under the Bridge
Show pissed me off so hard. I fucking hated everyone except for the parents. Stupid trashy dumb hillbilly kids smoking weed and committing petty crimes thinking they are dangerous hardcore gangsters If only the bridge collapsed or something and took all of them out simultaneously plus like a few more that were not there at the time Made me so thankful though that I grew up in the big city though
I believe Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being is partially set in Victoria/Vancouver island and it’s amazing.
So good- I think some of it was set on Cortez island
I loved this book!
Awake and Dreaming is a teen/kids novel that takes place in Victoria and Vancouver. It’s quite good.
Description from Agatha Christie, about arriving in Victoria by boat from Hawaii. She stayed at the Empress. (written in a letter, later published in a biographical book about her round-the-world trip) "It was delicious coming into Victoria yesterday afternoon, blue sea and sunshine, crisp but not cold, and a wonderful scent of pinewoods!" [https://www.agathachristie.com/en/news/2022/agatha-christies-grand-adventure](https://www.agathachristie.com/en/news/2022/agatha-christies-grand-adventure) Maybe it looked kind of like this? [https://collections.musee-mccord-stewart.ca/en/objects/165213/hotel-empress-victoria-cb-vers-1925](https://collections.musee-mccord-stewart.ca/en/objects/165213/hotel-empress-victoria-cb-vers-1925) Another historical description -- Eunice Harrison's memoirs describe what life here was like in the late 1800s. Apparently the town was so small back then that the area around Moss St. was a farm -- she describes being frightened by an intruder, and worried about being far from help. https://ronsdalepress.com/books/the-judges-wife/ And of course, Emily Carr's description of being a landlady (the house is still there). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/828088.The\_House\_of\_All\_Sorts https://houseofallsorts.com
Not Victoria but a few of Douglas Couplands books take place in Vancouver. *edit* The Trickster Trilogy by Eden Robinson take place in Bella Bella + Bella Coola area and Vancouver.
If you like romance, People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry has a chapter that takes place in Victoria and on the island. I read it while I was on vacation in Hawaii and found it funny to be reading about home while on vacation.
Michelle Remembers, but it's controversial to say the least.
it's bullshit, made up by both michelle and her psychotic psychiatrist who married her
After cheating on his wife and divorcing her to do so.
I forgot that bit both him and michelle are gross. he's dead
ah so that's why people said victoria was the capital of satanic activity in canada when i was a kid
the first conversation i ever had with my sister's (much older than i) inlaws two years ago quickly veered off into michelle remembers. it was the first i had ever heard of the event since i'm a young adult. they were really fuzzy on the details though and only talked about kidnapping and torture. they insisted it was all totally real, but i refused to believe them. so i looked into it on my own for no more than 5 minutes and immediately discovered it was proven to be all lies.
Recommend watching the recemt documentary about this. Satan Wants You. It's on CBC Gem.
There was an Archie comic that took place in Victoria and that was kinda neat.
There’s an historical novel about **Emily Carr** by the late Susan Vreeland. I’ve loved all her 📚That’s on my want to read list. *The Forest Lover*.
Emily Carr’s own books are also a great read and give insight into what it was like to grow up and live in Victoria back in the day. She was a talented lady and many don’t realize she was a gifted writer as well as a visual artist.
Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby takes place largely around Nanaimo!
Also by Susan Juby: The Woefield Farm series
Robert J. Wiersema has several!
He teaches writing classes too!
It’s been a few years, but I remember really enjoying his book “Black Feathers” - lots of references to downtown spots. Also enjoyed “Before I wake”
Some of *October Ferry to Gabriola* by Malcolm Lowry takes place on Vancouver Island. Much of *Never Fly Over an Eagle's Nest* by Joe Garner takes place on Saltspring Island. Saltspring gets some coverage in Garner's other books.
I didn't like this book but "Into That Darkness" by Steven Price is a fictional novel that takes place in Victoria where a big earthquake rocks the area.
A Colwood author married to another well-known author!
Jack Hodgins is an Island novelist and short story writer whose work really gives a flavour of life on the Island in the middle of the 20th century. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack\_Hodgins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Hodgins)
Spit Delaney’s Island
Not the island but Nelson, BC. Lane Winslow Mysteries. I rec cause I just love the series like mad. Feels super homey and BC.
Adding to my list! I lived in the Kootenays as a kid so excited to try these out :)
Awesome I am willing to bet you’ll become a fan like I have! Oh hot tip, the entire series is available at island libraries as e books.
Chevy Steven has multiple books some of which are based on Vancouver Island
Bill Gaston has a couple, his best known is Sointula (which is set, partially , in Sointula, obviously, and mostly on the Island)
Arboreality, by Rebecca Campbell, starts off in the McPherson Library at UVic and takes place mostly in the Cowichan valley. It's also a common first-year core text across a bunch of courses for next year at UVic.
The torn skirt, Rebecca Godfrey
It's been a while but author Michael Slade (pseudonym) wrote some amazing horror-crime novels based on a retired RCMP officer DeClerq who investigates gruesome murders that occur here in BC. They're graphic but beautifully written using a lot of landmarks from our Sunshine Coast. Steven King/Dean Koontz meets Dan Brown
Blood on the Breakwater by Jean Paetkau. A local author the features the Breakwater and murder.
My neighbor wrote a book called [Stealing Stanley](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199345027-stealing-stanley), and it's set mostly in Victoria with a field trip up-island. He was at the James Bay Farmers Market a couple weeks ago to promote it, and says a sequel will be out this year. It's a fun read!
the beginning of one of the james bond books takes place in victoria. he's wandering around in inner harbour lol
Check out Son of a Trickster. Starts set in Bella Bella before morning mostly to Prince Rupert. It was a delightful read.
Monkey Beach!!
Came here to suggest this book
Guests of War trilogy
I adore those books, but they take place in Toronto and Muskoka. You may be thinking of Awake and Dreaming by the same author, which takes place mostly in Victoria, specifically around Ross Bay Cemetery.
I read 85 grams- Art Williams The Drug Czar! Now that was a very interesting read, the true story of Art Williams who lived in Ladysmith area in the 70s and produced the drug MDMA, in its early years!
'Michelle Remembers' is probably the most notable one
Only to people of a time I think. Also completely false.
Not a book, but I was recently surprised by the tv series Taboo. Top tier production, and while it doesn't take place in Victoria so much as London, England, the entire plot centres around land rights to Nootka Sound (and Vancouver Island in general). Had no idea going into the series, I thought it was just going to be a really good period drama. But then they started talking about Nootka and I'm like "wait a second..." Only one season out so far and it's been on hiatus since 2017, but a second season is [officially](https://www.bosshunting.com.au/entertainment/tv/taboo-season-2-release-date-trailer-cast-news/) in the works and based on how season 1 wrapped up, I assume season 2 *will* be set at least partially on Vancouver Island. Trailer in case anyone's interested :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9QvSry2-CM ETA: Also on the note of TV that's actually set here (not just filmed here) — the first few seasons of Alone take place at the north tip of Vancouver Island
Sounds very cool! Thanks - I’m going to get it.
To All Appearances a Lady by Marilyn Bowering (1990) - reviews were a bit mixed but I enjoyed it 😊
Don Easton's Jack Taggart series (cop drama) is partially set here. Author is a retired undercover cop who wrote them based on his experiences
Stan Evans wrote some police novels.
Silas Seaweed series
Interested in nonfiction nature stories? Check out Briony Penn!!! Love her work (https://www.brionypenn.com/books)
The House of All Sorts by Emily Carr. It's non-fiction, written by Emily about her time as a landlady at the house she owned on Simcoe Street.
One thing that really stuck in my memory was her description of a party where her guests had various dietary restrictions, and I couldn't help laughing because I've had present-day experiences like that!
I really enjoyed “Bucket of Blood” by K. Bannerman, historical fiction set in Cumberland on Vancouver Island, and also “Truly the Devil’s Work” by the same author, which is set in Esquimalt, although that is part of another series. Quirky characters, lots of historical detail, and sort of an old-timey style with a sometimes morbid twist.
The Concubine's Children by Denise Chong is a great book that partially takes place in Victoria's Chinatown.
Its more funny history but the Pig War Islands is a good read.
That's one of my favourite Rendell novels too! One of my co-workers got a bit part in that adaptation. I think there are a couple of Alice Munro short stories that are set here, based on the background descriptions (though she doesn't mention the name specifically).
Do you remember which stories, or which collections those might be in?
In “Five Points” from from her collection Friend of My Youth one of the characters is from Victoria. He describes his neighbourhood as Five Points but I despite being a lifelong Victorian can’t figure out what he means. It sounds kind of like James Bay.
Close: Fairfield. Five Points is the intersection of Moss at Fairfield and Oscar. The first two go in two directions, and Oscar ends there, so five directions/points. Some years ago, Oscar was closed off there to make the intersection safer, and now only allows bike and foot traffic through. There was/is a daycare called Five Points that I think operated out of the community centre.
Thank you!!
You're very welcome! Always interesting to learn something new about our city.
I had also thought of the intersection of Douglas/Government/Hillside/Gorge, which is also 5 "points", and I know it was previously a large roundabout with a fountain that had a trough on the bottom to water horses, but the Five Points neighbourhood was the first one I mentioned, in Fairfield.
I'm sorry, all I remember about one of them is that it's about a woman visiting the city where she's discovered her husband's mistress lives. And the neighbourhood description sounds a lot like here (which makes sense because the author lived in Victoria for almost a decade). That story was probably in Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You, though Dance of the Happy Shades is also possible. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something\_I%27ve\_Been\_Meaning\_to\_Tell\_You](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_I%27ve_Been_Meaning_to_Tell_You)
[Blood on the breakwater](https://bolenbooks.com/lists/LdkvTltUuCXc) takes place in Victoria. I liked it, but I think it’s one of the first books this author has written and you can kind of tell.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197927230-blood-on-the-breakwater
I haven't read it yet, but I recently picked up Deloume Road by Matthew Hooton. It sounds like it takes place in Mill Bay
That's a good one! Yes, it's that Deloume Rd in Mill Bay.
Chevy Stevens’ books, “What Remains of Elsie Jane” by Chelsea Wakelyn, “Fake It So Real” by Susan Sanford Blades, “Seaweed on the Street” (#1 in a series) by Stanley Evans, to name a few!
Nice to see Chelsea mentioned! I'm good friends with her aunt. I haven't yet read her book, though.
Emily Carr’s writings
Republic of Dirt takes place in Cedar.
It's a bit odd, but The Girl with the Botticelli Face. I can't remember if it states outright that it's set in Victoria, but it's full of very specific/niche Victoria references
The Heaviness of Things That Float is a fictional tale that takes place in Kyuquot. Recommended to me by the author’s daughter while on a water taxi in the area. I found it interesting.
Deloume Road by Matthew Hooton (bonus points as it’s written by an islander!)
Awake and Dreaming, White Jade Tiger, Cariboo Runaway. All have ties to Victoria. I loved all three of these books as a child and I still turn to them every now and then.
[https://www.ekstasiseditions.com/pacificrim/issues/prrb-issue13.pdf](https://www.ekstasiseditions.com/pacificrim/issues/prrb-issue13.pdf) Acclaimed late-poet and painter PK Page at 92 welcomed interviewer Joseph Blake to her Uplands home in the Victoria area’s Oak Bay.
It’s more of a pre teen book but the first book I ever remember reading that took place in Victoria was “The Emily Carr Mystery” by Eric Wilson
"Through the Gate" by Kay Jordan is set at Craigdarroch Castle
The Emily Carr Mystery by Eric Wilson.
"Nod" by Adrian Barnes was a fun horror read. It takes place in Vancouver, but I'm fairly sure it mentions Victoria or Vancouver Island once or twice if I remember correctly.
Highly recommend Spilsbury's Coast. Non fiction, but quite entertaining
Wild Bird by Leanne Baugh- a historical YA fiction novel set in Victoria
Jennifer Tilly's sister Meg Tilly lives on Salt Spring and writes books based on the islands- *Cliff’s Edge* and *Solace Island* To name 2 https://www.yourswithlove.co.uk/with-love-posts/2019/06/05/escape-to-the-real-solace-island-with-meg-tilly-an-interview/
I heard the owl call my name - Margaret Craven is amazing. Set in southern Vancouver island, Victoria and a bit in Vancouver around the 1900's I believe (?) Gentle and profound but still has several moments of subtle humour. Definitely a story that will stay with you for a long time.
That book we read in the grade 5 that was centred in Chinatown and the never ending store in fan-tan alley. Forget the name though.
White Jade Tiger by Julie Lawson. I loved that book as a kid.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00CDTXS46?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_awm_anx_cl_0&storeType=ebooks
This is a 5 book series by Stanley Evans featuring RCMP Silas Seaweed.
I've read a couple of those -- really good!
They're quite sexiest and over the top hard-boiled. Also, the guy who wrote them is Welsh, so take any First Nations culture as fantasy rather than fact.
[The Drowned Girls by Loreth Anne White](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31682141-the-drowned-girls) is set in Victoria. I believe the author lives here part time. Victoria is not described in great detail exactly but it's set around the city. Ross Bay Cemetery I remember being mentioned among other places. It's a mystery/detective/crime/thriller with some romance.
I saw a series in a free library around Hillside mall about a pig that lives in Victoria. The books seem to alternate taking place in different sections ie: Oak bay or Esquimalt.
There is a mystery series by R.J. McMillen that takes place all along the west coast, Victoria but also lots of small villages etc. It's really good.
Edeana Malcolm is a local author who's written a historical fiction series set in Victoria. [House of Crows](https://www.amazon.ca/House-Crows-Edeana-Malcolm/dp/1988915260) includes the Bay St. Bridge disaster. I loved it (and not just because I designed its cover). I've read all of her books because they capture the local flavour of 100+ years ago.
I really liked The Chief Factor’s Daughter by Vanessa Winn.
I’m reading the Tides of the Sovereign (apart of the lost wells trilogy) and it is all based around Vancouver and Victoria and saltspring!
Sointula is great. Deloume Road is sad but very well written. Also - I’m told the woman who wrote station 11 has some mystery books that take place on a gulf island and local environs.
The Glass Hotel, also by Emily St. John Mandel, is set in a fictional spot on the coast of the Island. I love all her books.
Highly recommend A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Look up am author named Jack Hodgins Lots of island stuff and characters based on real people.... Long time Nanaimo Frank Ney and others
The olden days locket!
Jack Hodgins has a bunch of
Michelle Remembers. Jk, this is a terrible book, and considered a catalyst for the satanic panic. It’s entertainingly bad
Not strictly local but "The Golden Spruce" by John Valliant cover the history of the entire west coast of Canada, Vancouver and all of the Islands up to Haida Gwaii. From first contact forward. It reads really well though and paces nicely, with a modern storyline juxtaposing the history. IMO it is essential reading if one lives out this way.
Next Year For Sure takes place in Vancouver and parts of it on the island/Gulf islands/Sunshine coast. They're not mentioned by name, but it's pretty clear to anyone from here.
Arboureality - novella set in Victoria and UVic post apocalypse/break down of society. Rebecca Davidson is the author, I think. Won awards and is about to become a standard reading for first year's at UVic. It sounds traumatic but is actually very life affirming.
The Silas Seaweed mystery series takes place mostly here: https://www.goodreads.com/series/51482-silas-seaweed-mystery
Mindful of murder by Susan Juby who is from around d here and. The book takes place up island. Places all over the south coast are mentioned and it’s really good
THE BODY IN THE BACK GARDEN by Mark Waddell -- it's a queer cozy mystery that came out last year, set in a fictional town up-island. Nominated for the 2023 Edgar Awards, too!
Michelle Remembers- good romance novel
The bible.