Snow Apples Book

While the rest of the world celebrates the end of World War II, sixteen-year-old Sheila Brary finds life in a remote British Columbia outport suffocating and isolating. A household full of brothers, a philandering father, and, most of all, Sheila's demanding, embittered mother all stand in the way of a bright, beautiful teenager who dreams of continuing her schooling and becoming a nurse. The mother-daughter relationship at the heart of this haunting novel is both timeless and complex, and the two strong, rebellious women are more alike than they care to admit. One meets the demands of a sexist age with resentment and anger, while the other struggles to break away. In the end, Sheila defies her mother by pursuing a romance with a local carpenter. But when she becomes pregnant, she turns to her father for help, with devastating results.

First published in 1984, Snow Apples remains a classic — a gritty, uncompromising story about a young woman who struggles to choose her own path amidst formidable obstacles of family, place, and time.