Interior Designs

I grew up in the 1950s and ’60s in Penticton, British Columbia, sixty-five kilometres south of Kelowna. Reading Sharron J. Simpson’s The Kelowna Story has stirred memories of the extraordinary beauty and unique character of the beguiling valley the cities share — attributes often difficult to discern when you visit today. The subtitle, An Okanagan History, evokes the evolution of an entire region: Vernon, at the north end of Okanagan Lake; Kelowna in the middle; and Penticton at the south. In between are towns such as Peachland, Summerland, and Naramata. Further down, along the Okanagan River toward the United States, you find Oliver and Osoyoos.

Simpson is well positioned to tell this story. She’s a local historian who has written extensively about the lumber industry, for example, and Sun‑Rype Products, the central player in the fruit processing business for decades. Five generations of her family have lived in Kelowna, and this background has...