A new series of books for young adults is set in a fictionalized version of Britannia Beach and Squamish.
D.R. Graham’s Britannia Beach Series, released this summer, follows teenager Derian Lafleur as she navigates friendships, romance and family in the seaside town and attends high school in Squamish after a year of living with her mom in Vancouver.
The stories form a contemporary, yet edgy, romance with a thread of paranormal, Graham said.
“It is not a traditional romance. It doesn’t follow the structure of a romance. It is what we call ‘love stories,’” she said.
The settings in the three books in the series, Put It Out There, What are the Chances? and And Then What?, are loosely based on the landscapes of the corridor, Graham said.
“I decided I wanted something quaint and historical and I knew it was going to be the whole Sea to Sky theme,” Graham told The Squamish Chief from her home in Tsawwassen.
“We hike there a lot and I have spent a lot of time there since my late teens,” she added of her relationship to the corridor.
Graham’s first date with her husband included a hike up the Stawamus Chief and on a later hike the couple got engaged on the Second Peak, she said.
Elements of her Chief hikes are reflected in the books, especially in Derian’s relationship with her love interest, Trevor.
“There’s scenes where Trevor… he’ll turn around and he’ll reach out to hold her hand while she is climbing across the logs or up the ladder on the rocks. I mention those pieces because that is part of why I knew my husband was kind of a keeper… because he was really sweet and would hold my hands on the hard parts [of the Chief].”
Graham pointed out with a laugh that neither she nor the character Derian needed the help, but the gesture was appreciated.
Other local elements in the series include that Trevor’s best friend Murphy is a member of the Squamish Nation. Search and rescue volunteers are also featured in the books.
But Graham stressed her books are works of fiction. She made up landscape elements such as “Britannia pools” that resemble the pools in Lynn Canyon that are set between Britannia Beach and Squamish in the books.
She was inspired to create the pools based loosely on historical fact, she added.
“I know there used to be a pool at Britannia Beach back... when there was mining there and I have seen pictures of the kids swimming. I think if you go hiking you can still see the old concrete foundation of the pool,” she said.
Graham said she hopes the books remind readers of the “splendour” of our environment.
The uniquely Canadian landscapes in her books make them popular in the U.K., Graham said. “They like the Canadian element because it is something that is so unique to them,” she said.
“We take it for granted almost, because it is literally right there.”
Graham said the ultimate goal of the Britannia Beach books is to entertain teen readers with the trials and tribulations of the main character, Derian, who ages from 16 to 18 over the course of the three books.
“You are spending time with some characters that you can relate to and you feel emotionally invested with and then it takes you on a journey you find entertaining,” she said. “I write the books I like to read.”
For more on the series, published by HarperCollins Publishers, go to www.drgrahambooks.com.
