Welcome to my writer website –

In my debut novel georgie, I wanted to capture the era of the 1940’s and 1950’s, wanting each character to walk around in the most authentic setting I could imagine.

Set against the backdrop of WWII and the awe-inspiring majesty of the Canadian Rockies, I am often drawn to real-life events, and locations, weaving them into my stories.

This coming-of-age story follows a young girl named Georgie, who lives above a grocery store. The war is over. Georgie Andrews’ mother collapses from exhaustion on the floor of the family Grocery and Hardware Store. Georgie must now take charge. Tin can pyramids, aisles of boxed rice, shelved bags of flour, barrels of potatoes, crated fruit, vacuum bags to washing machines. Stacks and stacks of LIFE magazines and National Geographics. Surrounded.
She wonders why no one else sees the chaos? Angry, constantly planning an escape, packing, sorting, bundling. Leaving.

But it's her grandfather, Andrew Andrews, who gives her a precious gift that changes everything- arriving, from England, on a war bride boat. Steadfast and organized. He gives her a camera, a precious, old A3 Kodak with a pullout bevel. Magnificent.
The store closes. The family moves to a new house. Spacious. But Georgie’s father, never around, always has something more important to do, so Georgie and her Kodak begin to follow him. Capturing, recording, sorting and filing. Through her lens, she discovers the thrill of
photographing the world around her.
A girl with a covert darkroom, her photographs of the people in her life hang in the basement. Friends, Schuler, with a coat made from a Hudson’s Bay blanket, Will, a beady-eyed introvert, and Frank, a boy with nice blue eyes, sisters Haze and May, Mr. Hardy at the camera shop, Mrs.
Pinkham the neighbour, Rosemary, the hired help, and Georgie’s father Hamp Andrews. Truths and half-truths intertwine on clothes-pinned lines or hide in old biscuit tins.

One of my biggest sources of inspiration were old issues of LIFE magazines, bestowed to my mother, in our family basement for decades. Fascinated with the photographs, I took them with
me, every apartment, every move. I don’t know why?
A history in the moment, the week’s events in grainy powerful photographs, remember, there was no internet, newspapers were the only other source of information, a link to the outside world from the small world of the prairies. Like the character Georgie, dreaming of the world beyond her, thumbing through her weekly LIFE magazines.

So, if you're looking for a captivating read that will transport you to another time and place, pick up georgie today and discover her unforgettable world. From the grocery store she grew up in, to
her covert darkroom in the basement, from the chaos of war to the still beauty of nature of the Rocky Mountains, Georgie's journey of discovery is sure to capture your heart and keep you turning the pages. This one is not to be missed, a nice addition to your bookshelf.

I am hoping you enjoy my website.

yvette