Book lovers know: The book is always better. But that doesn’t stop us from dreaming about reliving our favourite stories through the big screen. Here are 14 BC-published books that we’d love to see get adapted. We think these titles are varyingly suited to become a bingeable TV series, a 35mm indie movie, or a lovable blockbuster. We suggest you read them now, so you can say you read the book first!
The Wedding by Gurjinder Basran (Douglas & McIntyre)
After the groundbreaking success of the Crazy Rich Asians book-to-screen adaptation back in 2018, we think it’s about time that Western audiences are treated to another lavish wedding drama: This time centered on two South Asian families. Gurjinder Basran’s The Wedding offers plenty of family drama, a rich cast of characters, deft humour, and an intimate portrait of the Sikh community in Canada. What more could a producer ask for?
Available now!
Slumach’s Gold: In Search of a Legend—and a Curse by Brian Antonson, Mary Trainer, Rick Antonson (Heritage House Publishing)
A real-life treasure hunt that verges on myth: For more than 130 years, prospectors and adventurers have sought the legend of massive gold nuggets after the details of their exact location died with Slumach, a Katzie Nation man executed for murder in 1891. With the existing popularity of a History Channel original series, podcast series, and limited reality series about this legend already proving audiences’ fascination with this story, we think this new, well-researched book could be the nudge producers need to bring a fictionalized version of the story to the screen!
Coming soon: October 29, 2024
Always On Call: Adventures in Nursing, Ranching, and Rural Living by Marion McKinnon Crook (Heritage House Publishing)
In the story told by this book and its prequel, Marion Crook, an enthusiastic and idealistic young nurse, arrives in rural BC to begin her career. Spanning over a decade from the 1960s to the 70s, this series follows Crook as she navigates the realities and struggles of rural nursing, the needs of the eclectic cast of patients she encounters, and finding the balance between work and family life. We can see this being the sort of cozy, Sunday night drama that fans of Call the Midwife will look forward to curling up in front of as they follow along with Crook’s misadventures.
Available now!
Behind the Moon by Anosh Irani (Talonbooks)
This play from Vancouver-based, Mumbai-born playwright Anosh Irani already has the perfect dramatic tone to make a seamless transition into a visceral, touching film. The delicate world of Ayub, an illegal immigrant from India working as a cook in a Toronto restaurant, is shattered when a mysterious cabbie shows up after closing one night, asking for food. Behind the Moon offers the sort of complex, devastating portrayal of three Indo-Canadian immigrant experiences that we could see platforming some award-winning performances.
Available now!
Heenan Blaikie: The Making and Unmaking of a Great Canadian Law Firm by Adam Dodek (UBC Press)
Television seems to be obsessed with seductive yet corrupt corporate worlds — think of the success of shows like Suits, Mad Men, and Succession. This true story of the collapse of one of Canada’s highest-profile law firms is full of the kind of scandal and drama that would make any TV producer perk up their ears, if you ask us! We acknowledge that Canada in the 70’s might lack some of the slick allure of the New York-set dramas we mentioned— may we suggest adding the touch of the chaos and humour of BlackBerry, which portrayed the story of the tragic rise and fall of another hopeful Canadian company?
Coming soon: October 15, 2024
Sunrise over Half-Built Houses: Love, Longing and Addiction in Suburbia by Erin Steele (Caitlin Press)
Early 2000’s nostalgia, teen struggles with addiction, and queer longing in a pristine suburban setting: To us, these themes describe just the kind of edgy limited series that would captivate Gen Z and millennial audiences. In this memoir, the drama takes place in the Pacific Northwest, where the highschool parties take place in “wooded outskirts zoned for development,” and the usual sunny, floral aesthetic of the suburb is swapped for a grey and rainy one. We think this honest memoir would resonate with those seeking a stripped down version of HBO’s Euphoria that treats it’s characters and difficult topics with care and respect.
Coming soon: October 4, 2024
The Science of Boys by Emily Seo, illustrated by Gracey Zhang (Tradewind Books)
Brainy girl Emma is enlisted by the popular girl in a quest for a boyfriend in this endearing tween story that incorporates real science. When Emma tries to apply theories from her homework to the most elusive subject she can imagine— boys— humourous and heartwarming antics ensue. With just the sort of zany premise that can define an intergenerational cult favourite, we think The Science of Boys could be an essential addition to the teen movie lexicon. While the story is valuable for its ability to entertain, it is also valuable for its positive representations of young girls in science, and of it’s trope-defying protagonist Emma, who shows that the nerdy Asian girl can be a lovable and relatable main character instead of a secondary one.
Available now!
Crystal Cave by Nancy Deas and Mike Deas (Orca Book Publishers)
The Goonies meets Amulet in this adorably illustrated middle-grade book that we think would be a family favourite for kids of all ages. We think the moody setting and whimsical art would make this series a great candidate for an animated production— especially considering the recent popularity of uniquely animated series! Crystal Cave is one of five books in this series, making this the perfect mine for more stories about this eclectic bunch of kids who always find themselves saving the day.
Available now!
Bad Land by Corinna Chong (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Longlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize, this tense and thrilling psychological novel set in a gothic Alberta is ultimately about family, memory, and transgression. The protagonist lives in isolation with her pet bunny when one day, her brother and his strange child show up on her doorstep. The eerie tone of this book reminds us of the work of indie directors with cult-like followings, like like Ari Aster, creater of subversive, genre-defying movies, and Charlie Kaufman work on not-quite-horror movie I’m Thinking of Ending Things. We also happen to think the desolate badlands of Alberta would make the perfect visual setting for a story that unnerves and unsettles.
Available now!
A Killer in King’s Cove by Iona Whishaw (TouchWood Editions)
The first instalment in what would become one of BC’s most popular mystery series. A Killer in King’s Cove has everything you want out of a soft-boiled murder mystery: A postwar, small town BC setting, a scandalous murder, and a scrappy and self-sufficient sleuthing heroine in the form of London ex-pat Lane Winslow. There’s over ten volumes in this ever expanding series; the newest instalments of which regularly top the BC Bestseller list! As BC residents ourselves, we know we’d get a kick out of seeing all the familiar comforts of a cozy mystery play out in a West Coast setting.
Available now!
Mars on Earth: Wanderings in the World’s Driest Desert by Mark Johanson (RMB | Rocky Mountain Books)
Based on the success of movies of self-discovery and adventure like Into the Wild and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, we think this story of a gay expat searching for answers about himself and his parter in the Andean desert would make for a universal classic. In his found home of Chile, Johanson decides to try to get to seek a greater understanding of the unfamiliar country by exploring the strange terrain of “the world’s driest desert”, having enlightening encounters with locals and learning their stories along the way. We think this sprawling cast of characters and landscapes would make for a vibrant and memorable cinematic experience.
Available now!
we the same by Sangeeta Wylie (Talonbooks)
There is an abundance of movies about the Vietnam War from a simplistic American perspective, so we think the time is long overdue for an insightful, visceral counter to these movies that tells a story of this period from a Vietnamese perspective. The inherent drama and sprawling nature of we the same—across decades and countries—makes this play about a family fleeing their home in 1979 a perfect pick for film adaptation. Based on true events, Sangeeta Wylie’s play recounts the story of six children and their mother who become separated from their father and husband when they board a boat to escape the conditions in Vietnam created by war, sanctions, and colonization. Thirty-five years later, one child return to these events with questions for her mother, who holds long-kept secrets that she may finally be ready to share.
This published play is already full of carefully crafted, resonant dialogue— why not translate it for the screen?
Available now!
The Curve of Time: New, Expanded Edition by Edith Iglauer, Howard White, M. Wylie Blanchet, Michael Blanchet (Harbour Publishing)
This essential classic is one of the best-selling BC-published books of all time. The Curve of Time tells the true story of Muriel Blanchet, widowed at thirty-five, who packed her five children aboard her own boat and spent the summers of the 1920s and 1930s exploring the province by way of its unpredictable waters. Touching on themes of motherhood, boating, and survival, this is a rare and valuable account of a family shaped by the land they lived on, and who harboured a respect for nature and the Haida communities they intruded on. Given the book’s longtime popularity and historical significance, we think this story is long overdue for a limited series, a movie, or even a documentary about Blanchet’s life.
Available now!
A Story of Karma: Finding Love and Truth in the Lost Valley of the Himalaya by Michael Schauch (RMB | Rocky Mountain Books)
The dream of climbing a mountain only identified by a photograph. A profound encounter with a little girl. When a Vancouver couple embark on an artistic journey in Nepal, they don’t expect the course of their lives to change forever. With fascinating elements that tell a real life story, we think that the gorgeous setting of the Himalayas, along with the opportunity to showcase the rarely represented culture of northern Nepalese communities, would make a big screen retelling of this story into an essential and sweeping event.
Available now!