Inside the secret history of the Kootenay valley Doukhobors

Woman sits in field of flowers
Author Vera Maloff recently published her family's secret history as Doukhobors. Photo by Tamara Terry, courtesy of Caitlin Press.
Keili Bartlett - CJLY - KootenayBC | 16-12-2020
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest
Share on email
Share on print

Vera Maloff has grown up trying to learn the stories of her family's history, ones they were hesitant to discuss. Now, she's resurrected those tales in her book Our Backs Warmed by the Sun: Memories of a Doukhobor Life.

She shares an insider's perspective on the incarceration of both adults and children in Canada, and what it was like growing up in the Kootenays as a Doukhobor.

Maloff says it's a departure from the scandalous local headlines of arson and nudity, and takes a closer look at their pacifist roots and way of life.