The Age of Water Lillies: A Novel

When Flora Oakden leaves her English home in 1912 for the fledgling community of Walhachin in British Columbia's interior, she doesn't expect to fall in love with the dry sage-scented benchlands above the Thompson River nor with a charismatic labourer who is working in the orchard. When her lover and all the men of Walhachin return to Europe and the battlefields of France, Flora remains behind, pregnant and unmarried. Shunned by those remaining in the settlement, she travels west to Victoria and meets freethinker Ann Ogilvie, who provides shelter for her in a house overlooking the Ross Bay Cemetery. 50 years later, among the headstones of Ross Bay, curious young Tessa is mapping her own personal domain when her life becomes interwoven with that of her neighbor, the now-elderly Flora. Out of their friendship, a larger world opens up for these unlikely companions. Theresa has written a sweeping story that transcends time and springs from a passionate exploration of the natural world, its weather, seasons and plants.