The Curve of Time
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Author | M. Wylie Blanchet |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | William Blackwood & Sons Ltd |
Publication date | 1961 |
| Publication place | Canada |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 202 |
| ISBN | 9781895099263 2nd Edition |
| LC Class | F1087 .B65 |
The Curve of Time is a 1961 book by M. Wylie Blanchet recounting trips she took with her five children throughout the inland waterways between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia in the 1920s and 1930s.[1]: 4–5 Through at least eleven editions,[1]: 5 it has become regarded as a classic of regional literature[2] and travel writing,[3] although Blanchet's adventures and discussions regarding First Nations are out of step with present-day legal protections and cultural sensitivities.[1]: 143
Blanchet herself wrote that the book "is neither a story nor a log; it is just an account of many long sunny summer months, during many years when the children were young and old enough to take on camping holidays up the coast of British Columbia.[1]: 5
The family's travels were guided in part by a copy they carried of Captain George Vancouver's diaries.[4]
Publication history
The title refers to the theories of J. W. Dunne about the nature of time, as described by playwright Maurice Maeterlinck.[3] The book originated as a series of four articles in the prestigious (though, by the 1960s, waning) Blackwood's Magazine.[1]: 5–6
William Blackwood & Sons, of Edinburgh, first published the book in 1961. However, Blackwood made very little attempt to promote the book—not even sending any copies to British Columbia.[1]: 6–7
As of 2008, it had seen eleven printings, including in Canada by Gray's Publishing (1968) and more recently, Whitecap Books.[1]: 5