Tofino: A Novel

"In prose that sears, he gives us the wild coast and the wounded soul—both stripped of pretense, both tremblingly alive."

Author Tom Stewart—following a national fiction award for Immortal North—returns with his most intimate novel yet: an emotionally charged story of heartbreak and healing in the town he calls home. Lyrical and sexy, at once comedic and profound, the story unfolds over three days, seamlessly weaving sensational Tofino history with a blemished and modern romance.

Sunrise in downtown Vancouver. On her morning jog, Valerie Lou Roy falls to her knees from a panic attack. Founder and CEO of a disruptive social media firm, she’s facing public backlash and looming lawsuits. Last night she thought it was his truck outside her condo again—a man unstable well before their bad breakup.

Seeking a former peace she can hardly recall, Valerie boards a ferry to one of Canada’s most stunning coastal towns. Stubborn fate seems at play when she crosses paths again with a curious fishing guide: part-time smut writer with a taste for off-colour jokes and the occasional literary quote. Valerie begins to suspect that laughter and romance might heal more than even Tofino’s hot springs and taco trucks, endless beaches and an ocean coloured the blue of your dreams. But the past rarely stays where you leave it. As closeness stirs between her and the unlikely guide, honesty feels less like rescue than another weight to bear. Her business, her sense of self, and the fragile promise of new love are at risk, while an anxious tide rises and fresh betrayals near.