Fierce in both literary accomplishment and personal strength, Victoria-based bestselling author and journalist Jean Paetkau has released her second book!
After a successful launch of her 2023 bestseller, Blood on the Breakwater, Paetkau’s second novel in the Breakwater Mystery series, The Sinking of Souls, touches on the true story of the sinking of S.S. Clallam in 1904 on its journey from Seattle to Victoria.
As described, returning protagonist Helene Unger is hunting a murderer who’s driven by secrets connected to the historic maritime tragedy that claimed the lives of all women and children on board.
To ensure historical accuracy, Paetkau worked with Washington State maritime historian Erik Kosick to research details of the sinking, and drew from 1904 newspaper clippings.
And although this feat is an exciting step in her career, she shared in an interview with Victoria Buzz that a looming cancer diagnosis brought on a new set of challenges to the publishing process.
She said she had planned to publish in August, but wished instead to get it out before her scheduled surgery, as her fight against ovarian cancer will be her main priority for the next while.
“Thank god I finished it—it was probably only a week or so before [the diagnosis]. I can not imagine writing in the early stages…chemo brain is so real, and is not built for writing at all,” she said.
“[My book] is saving my soul right now because it’s reminding me of who I am and it’s anchoring me as a person and as a writer.”
She added that the flexibility of self-publication allowed her this freedom, and she’s beyond thankful for the ongoing community support that has made this route—and its success—possible.
Though she doesn’t have anything against traditional query writing, self-publishing gave her complete control over her first book, and became especially important with her second.
“I was diagnosed in April, and if I hadn’t self-published and was still waiting for queries, I’d have given up. I was able to do it quickly, within my own control and then had something that was lifting me up and moving me forward,” she shared.
Plus, she was so excited to bring the local community another book where they could see themselves represented in the local island hotspots such as Ross Bay Cemetery and Craigdarroch Castle.
In fact, she was in Ross Bay Cemetery when she decided to start reading about the Trial Islands and the lighthouse located there.
From there, she discovered the horrifying story of the S.S. Clallam’s sinking in 1904, and how none of the women and children survived, only the men.
“The men made a decision and all of the women and children died.”
So, she shared that readers of this new novel will be introduced to complex, anger-driven female characters across both timelines—present day, and the early 19th century.
Ultimately, her goal in publishing this novel is to have a memorial erected for the lost souls on the S.S. Clallam at Ross Bay Cemetery, as she believes it’s extremely important to find ways to give back to these people, whose story she is using.
The memorial would be a way to honour them and their fate, as well as repay them for her representation of them in literature.
In the meantime, she will continue to share her cancer journey on social media in hopes of raising awareness for ovarian cancer and post updates on The Sinking of Souls.
This second Breakwater Mystery novel was officially published on July 2nd, and you can purchase it online or at local bookstores across Victoria.
“I feel nothing but gratitude and just want to express my thanks for all of my community in Victoria and my followers on social media—they made my book a bestseller, and without them I wouldn’t have this achievement.”
“This is for you all.”
