THAT SUMMER IN JASPER PARK

In Sherrard’s novel, a young man finds love and adventure while working a summer job at a national park.

The year is 1968. Twenty-year-old Wayne Sherrard is returning to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in the fall, but before then he wants to earn a little money while he’s at home in Cold Lake, Alberta. Unfortunately, the job opportunities in town are few, so Wayne heads to Jasper National Park, where he’s offered a position driving tour buses and boats at Maligne Lake. It’s a dream job: The views are beautiful, and there are plenty of pretty girls around, too. Even though Wayne isn’t looking for anything serious (he has a goal to remain single until he’s 30 and then settle down), he ends up meeting and falling for the strong-willed Eileen Farley, who gets a job working at the same lodge. Inspired by true events, the novel follows Wayne through the summer as he makes new friends, climbs beautiful and dangerous mountains, and struggles to reconcile his desire to stay single and his growing feelings for Eileen, all against a backdrop of popular 1960s songs. Sherrard masterfully creates a cast of characters who feel lively and unique from each other—Wayne’s roommates, Paul and Tom, bring a fun energy to the story with their likable personalities. However, the dialogue can sometimes feel stale and unrealistic: “Of course, I’ll let you know ahead of time so you can clean up your messes, hee hee.” The pacing is a bit rocky in places—partway through the story, there’s a scene in which a prominent character dies, and after only a brief acknowledgment, the incident is never mentioned again. Wayne and Eileen have a tense, on-again, off-again relationship, which feels true-to-life and relatable, but some readers might find the ending rushed.

A somewhat uneven romance, but the colorful characters make it worth reading.