EDEANA MALCOLM

When I read a book, I want to be taken away to another world, but I want to learn something too. Historical fiction really fits the bill for me, and that’s why I write it as well.

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But far and away my favourite activity is writing well-researched historical fiction. My first five novels were based on the lives of my maternal ancestors. While doing family tree research, I came across the story of the Dean family, who were pioneers in Nova Scotia in 1795.  From their lives I have written four novels: The Serpentine Garden Path, The Gardener’s Wife , Letters from the Gardener,  A Garden in the Wilderness.. Another novel, The Loyalist, is based on the life of Michael Eisan,  who settled in Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia after the American Revolution. 

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To be fair to my father, my latest novel, Maid of Gold, is based on the lives of his mother's grandparents. In 1852, they traveled from Quebec City by sailing ship to Melbourne, Australia, where they married, and then sailed back again and raised a family of eight. I lived in Quebec City myself for 16 years, but did not know I had ancestors from there.

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My novels, House of Crows and Tea at the Empress, are not based on my ancestors. House of Crows tells the story of early Victoria though the lives of three generations of women. In the latest, Tea at the Empress continues the story with the next generation. Edith, who works for the Daily Colonist, strives to be a twentieth century woman in a provincial Victorian town.

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I am the past-president of the steering committee of Victoria Writers’ Society. We support writers in the Greater Victoria region. If you live on Vancouver Island, consider joining. Check us out at www.victoriawriters.ca

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Keep on reading and keep on writing. Your words are important.