B.C. author to donate portion of proceeds from book to wildfire recovery
Courtney Dickson | CBC News | Posted: October 29, 2017 3:00 PM | Last Updated: October 29, 2017
Novel's antagonist compared to U.S. President Donald Trump
B.C. author Bruce Fraser sets his latest novel in the heart of the Chilcotin — a region ravaged by wildfires last summer — to tell the story of a convergence between American politics and First Nations land rights.
Fraser lives in Lac La Hache in the Cariboo region in the B.C. Interior. He was forced to evacuate when a wildfire threatened the area last July and August.
"I had to go because my power was cut off, and had no water and was running out of food," he said.
Fraser has committed to donating 10 per cent of the proceeds from his latest book to helping the community rebuild after it experienced the worst fire season on record in B.C.
Fiction parallels reality
Fraser's latest book, Noah's Raven, is the final installment of his passion project — the Noah Hanlon series. It's set in B.C.'s Interior near Tatlayoko Lake.
A former lawyer, Fraser writes from experience; his fiction centres around legal trials.
Noah's Raven looks at how the land and the history of the region influence the main character as he navigates a muddy situation when the story's antagonist finds natural gas deposits in the Chilcotin area and, of course, wants to access them.
Hanlon must fight to preserve the ancient land.
Antagonist Billy Joe Northrop the Third is a billionaire who made his money in oil and gas. He's also a presidential hopeful with "plans to take the White House through deceit and backroom deals." Fraser drew inspiration for the character from the current U.S. president.
"I knew I was going to get somebody from the United States to be the antagonist," Fraser said, noting that previously his antagonists have all been Canadian.
"All of the sudden [President Donald] Trump came along. He's almost like a fictional character."
Thus, Billy Joe Northrop the Third was born.
"This is fiction," Fraser said. "Keep in mind fiction parallels real life and my books tend to do that."
With files from Radio West