Rebecca Hendry

Rebecca Hendry was born in Ottawa and grew up in Brockville, Vancouver, Peterborough, Montreal, and Yellowknife before settling on the Sunshine Coast at age eleven. She writes regularly for Just Business Magazine, and her fiction writing has appeared in the Windsor Review, Dalhousie Review, Artistry, Wascana Review, Event, paperplates, and Room of One's Own. Rebecca's short story "The Woman Across the Way" was longlisted for the 2005 Writer's Union of Canada Short prose competition, and her short story "Jesse Beautiful" was nominated for the 2003 Journey Prize. Rebecca's interests include music, art, alternative medicine, travel, and movies. She has worked in film, theatre, and on music videos, and has taught creative writing to children. Rebecca lives in Roberts Creek, British Columbia.

Rebecca is attending the 27th annual Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts as one of their "20 New Voices". The festival takes place in Sechelt, BC, August 13–16, 2009.

Rebecca is the author of the novel, Grace River (published by Brindle & Glass, 2009). ISBN 978-1-897142-37-0

About Grace River

The fictional town of Grace River, population 2,426, is a tight-knit smelter town in the interior of British Columbia where most locals are born and bred, and everyone is either employed by AXIS or knows someone who is. Not much ever changes in Grace River. Days begin at Nick's Diner and end at the Steelworkers Inn. When a young environmentalist arrives in town to investigate toxin levels in the river, the locals are forced to start looking honestly at their present lives, their pasts, and their uncertain futures. A powerful and courageous story told from the perspective of four friends, Grace River explores the reasons why people continue to stay in harmful situations and asks us to think about the damage we all do, not only the environment, but also to the ones we love the most.

Grace River has received great reviews both critically and on sites such as chapters.indigo.ca1, where her novel has an Average Customer Rating of 5/5.

"Rebecca Hendry's first novel exudes a haunting familiarity... [She] paints a vivid portrait of resentment and functional dysfunction... Grace River is driven by characters that feel real, act real and sound real. Chances are you grew up with some or all of them." Randy Shore for the Vancouver Sun, June 13, 2009

"Grace River offers the opportunity for readers to enjoy a great narrative, contemplating with the characters and the connection between tangible reality and that which runs deep, fast, and eternal just below the surface of life. Read with open eyes - this novel is packed with metaphorical challenges for change." Sunstream, May/June 2009

:"Why do the salmon bother? Why not just have your babies any old place? Why not just give up and live out your last few days in peace? It never made sense to me to fight so hard just to get back to the place you started from."

''He smiled to himself. "Yeah, it's a bit of a mystery. I guess it depends on whether you like the place you started from."

Links and Resources

• Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts homepage
• Publisher's website
• Grace River is available online at Amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca
• RebeccaHendry.com
• Link to the review from the Vancouver Sun