Throughout her life, Valerie Green has never been far from a pen and paper. “I started writing when I was a child. I always knew I wanted to write. I see a story in everything,” she says.
Possessed with a passion for history, too, Valerie has authored more than 20 books on topics such as heritage homes, real whodunits and social issues. Her latest writing venture, The McBride Chronicles, however, is a departure from familiar terrain: a jump from non-fiction to novels. The four-part series looks at the history of BC through the eyes of fictionalized characters.
“I have always loved history,” says Valerie. “But in the back of my mind I wanted to write these novels. It is a historical series through generations of one family. It starts in the 1850s through to the fourth book, which will be in the present day.”
Providence, the first installment, published in December 2022, sets the scene in England and Scotland, with Jane, an orphan, and Gideon, the son of a poor fisherman, who travel separately to the new continent in search of a better life.
They meet and marry in Victoria where Gideon founds what will become a family business. Subsequent books, Destiny, Legacy and Tomorrow, will tell the stories of their descendants, with BC’s vibrant history in the background.
“I like to think of it as a definitive history of British Columbia told by fictional people who actually lived it,” says Valerie.
When switching from writing non-fiction to writing novels, Valerie explains the shift.
“Instead of telling a story as you tend to do in journalism, in fiction you have to show the scenes more,” she says. “It is a transition from telling to showing. And that was hard for me at first. But gradually the more I was writing, the more these characters came alive. I felt I have lived with them for the last few years.”
Valerie’s own story is as compelling as her oeuvre is prolific and her curiosity insatiable. Born in England, she studied journalism, short-story writing and English literature at The Regent Institute of Journalism in London in the 1960s.
Fresh out of school, Valerie got her start as a cub reporter for a weekly paper in Essex, and, for a short time, enjoyed a stint at the War Office for the British intelligence agency MI5.
“When I tell people that, they always ask, ‘Wow, did you know James Bond?’” she smiles.
Valerie immigrated to Canada in 1968, met her husband, started a family and, all the while, immersed herself in the history and lore of her new surroundings. Her non-fiction work spans the gamut of regional history, from the notable turn-of-the-century families that initially settled on southern Vancouver Island to the unsavory yet colourful characters of the Pacific Northwest who tested the limits of societal norms.
Her book Above Stairs: Social Life in Upper-Class Victoria, 1843–1918 looks at the people who instituted the laws, surveyed the landscapes, established businesses, and set a standard of propriety for the city’s early inhabitants. Upstarts and Outcasts, on the other hand, researches the lives of a different set of Victoria pioneers – the madams, murderers and saloon keepers – and calls into question the “prim and proper” version of the city’s history.
Valerie has also chronicled the story of the Vantreights, a well-known Saanich peninsula farming family; explored the myth and mysteries of numerous local legends; and examined the Michael Dunahee case, the story of a four-year-old boy’s disappearance and what has become one of the largest police investigations in Canadian history.
She brought her own involvement in looking after elderly parents to the page in Embrace the Journey: A Care Giver’s Story. This personal account retells her experience when, in mid-life, Valerie confronted the challenging and often heart-wrenching decisions that needed to be made for parents who wished to “age in place.” The book also provides a shared universal perspective on caring for the elderly and serves as a resource for those who offer such care.
Aside from her books, Valerie’s career includes a weekly article for The Saanich News, a regular column in Sidney’s Seaside Magazine, frequent contributions to The Times Colonist in Victoria and pieces for publications across BC.
When she is not writing, Valerie likes being behind the lens of a camera, travelling to the various gems located all around the province and spending time with her grandchildren.
Yet before long, she is back at her desk.
“I have a few other ideas after this current series is out. I will still be writing when I am 100,” she predicts. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. It is in my DNA.”
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