Rarely does one come across an author who can authentically represent the place in which their stories are set. Tom Wayman is the exception to this rule. In his latest collection of short stories, The Shadows We Mistake For Love, Wayman stays true to not only the people of the West Kootenay area of British Columbia, but the place itself.
This region is beautiful — the mixture of mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, and the colour of the sky during a summer sunset combine to make this area otherworldly. Wayman is able to capture this perfectly with his descriptions of the area. Yet the region goes beyond just being another location for action within these stories: it becomes another character. This characterization comes through most clearly in the first and final stories of the collection, “Dwelling” and “Fenris.” Both of these center on the same nameless man and his experiences on his acreage, the magic of the region, the way it can pull a person in and change how they view the world around them or change their outlook on life.
The other stories in the collection focus more on the people who inhabit the region. Even though we are only briefly introduced to each character, as readers we are able to empathize with them. They come off the page and inhabit not only the written version of the West Kootenay, but the physical one as well.
Each of the characters in the stories resemble the people who actually live in the region.
Having grown up in the East Kootenay and spending countless weekends in the West Kootenay region, I can attest to the fact that the characters in the stories resemble the real people in the region. The characters are also written in a way that makes them relatable to people who are unfamiliar with the area. While the stereotypical hippie commune comes into play in both the titular story and “The Three Jimmys,” the issues that all the characters face are relatable across geographic boundaries.
Age and gender are two other things that Wayman is able to handle masterfully throughout his stories. He can write from the perspective of a woman in her mid-twenties, a teenaged boy, or a middle-aged man with the same amount of care and lived experiences that make these characters realistic and relatable.
This collection of stories successfully captures the spirit of a region that few people visit, and even fewer understand. The West Kootenay is a region where the people are warm, friendly, and seem as if they are from a simpler time. Each story expertly blends the area and the characters in a manner that transports you to the world of the stories. These masterfully crafted stories should be read by anyone who has lived in the region or anyone who wants to be transported into the lives of the people who call the West Kootenay home.
