Juby paints a picture of urban and sophisticated Vancouver and then switches to a ranch in the wilderness where Cartier, Helen, and the rest of the Deep Slaters navigate life without the internet.

Finding Edward, Sheila Murray’s debut novel, explores Canadian history through the eyes of a Black man in his 20s named Cyril Rowntree who immigrates to Canada from Jamaica in 2012. Cyril works while attending university until a chance encounter with an underhoused woman named Patricia, woman the pastor calls “an unlucky penny,” changes the course of his life.

All the Shining People is a compelling compilation that captures the nuances of cultural displacement and the yearning for fulfilling connections. With depth and profound empathy, Friedman examines oppressive structures, familial bonds, and cultural identity with a complexity that reframes real-life events.

Siemens’ gritty novel takes place during a hot summer when the skies are filled with the smoke of wildfires, the perfect setting for an uncomfortable, fast-paced, and gripping mystery heating up of as the race to find the culprit intensifies: “The smoke-filled night sky made the lights from the nearby skyscrapers seem faraway and otherworldly.”

The title of Katherine Walker’s novel, All is Well, is intended to be ironic as we learn from the opening paragraph. There is a dead man lying on the rug in Reverend Christine Wright’s church office.

The truth is, Peter doesn’t like his job at all. It’s a show. Instead of handling problems simply, his bosses debate them in meetings and make him comfort the clients.